


All For One, One For All

by Straumoy



Series: Old FanFiction.net stories [3]
Category: inFAMOUS (Video Games)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama & Romance, F/M, POV Third Person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-11-21
Updated: 2016-01-04
Packaged: 2018-05-11 18:29:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 46,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5637325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Straumoy/pseuds/Straumoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Picks up after inFAMOUS 2, with a special non-canon ending. Cole, Kuo and Zeke have to pick up the pieces after dealing with The Beast, getting their lives back on track and figure out what to do next. Rate T for language, suggestive themes and violence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. After The Final Decision

It was morning in New Marais. Cole had gotten up early and feeling restless, he took to the rooftops, glancing down at the streets under him as he passed over them. The Beast, was no more. As a college drop-out, Cole hadn't understood much of what Kuo and Zeke had been babbling about while going over Dr. Wolfe's notes. While they were talking about how to respond to John's offer; killing non-conduits to save conduits from the plague, they at some point figured it was no plague at all. 

Ray field radiation was the cause of the plague. That was the key, the breakthrough they needed. As Cole understood it, this meant it was not a plague as in a virus or bacteria screwing your system over. It was your system failing because it got too much Ray field radiation in it. The plague was an acute radiation syndrome unknown to mainstream science. No wonder, since Ray Sphere technology wasn't really high on the list of things mainstream science looked at. 

Kuo deduced that in the chaos and confusion, John had mistakenly assumed that there was a plague after seeing so many people sick, with the same symptoms and in the same area or city if you will. The government was no different, as they had no means to explain what was causing the destruction, let alone the thousands of ill people. It was all unknown to them, so they grabbed the closest thing that made sense and went with that until that would be proven wrong. 

Both Empire City and New Marais had been exposed to the same scenario – Ray Sphere detonation, hundreds of highly radioactive blast shards (or Rayacite as Kuo still called them) scattered all over town and lastly, John stomping around as a colossal man of magma. All these things turned both cities into an area with high concentration of ray field radiation. Zeke commented that it was like being inside Prypiat when the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant went boom. 

With this information, they could fine tune a countermeasure against John's extreme solution. Cole was sceptical that he could convince John to see things their way, even with Kuo's help. Besides, even if they could, there was no telling what would happen to John afterward. A walking, sentient and near all powerful weapon of mass destruction that also had a chance of generating super soldiers by firing off would be too dangerous in the hands of any government. 

Since they were talking about radiation, Zeke compared some raw data that Kuo managed to dig up through some old contacts in the NSA, with that of the late Dr Wolfe. The radiation from a regular Ray Sphere blast site and that from where John had been were a little different in frequency. Zeke explained that with its current configuration, the Ray Field Inhibitor is set to a wider frequency range, which is why it sucked out the ray field radiation out of everything and everyone. 

Based on this, he also meant that it would be possible to tune the Ray Field Inhibitor to a more narrow frequency, that unique to John. That way, they could fire it up and take out only John. It had been a close call, but that's how they did it. Kuo and Nix bought Cole and Zeke as much time as they could, before the final showdown at the steps of New Marais majestic cathedral. Weakened from fighting two experienced Conduits along with all of Laroche's remaining men, John was brought to his knees and Cole started up the Ray Field Inhibitor. And that was, as they say it, all there was to it. 

From here on they had to find a way to deal with all the sick people. Treatment of acute radiation syndrome is generally supportive with blood transfusions and antibiotics. However, when dealing with ray field radiation, these methods didn't prove to be too effective. Part of it could be blamed on the circumstances that they found themselves in. 

Over half the city was sick, so that reduced the number of people they could use for blood transfusions dramatically. Antibiotics was hard to come by as the city was cut off from the outside world. Heck, the whole east coast was cut off, thus getting a large supply of antibiotics would be hard to say the least. On top of that there was the issue with all the hundreds of Conduits that John had activated during his rampage down the coast. 

Thankfully, in New Marais John hadn't gone all out. Yes, he had given Cole a quick demonstration of what he'd been doing and why, but it didn't take out the city. Just a relatively large warehouse and killing all the people inside it, except for that one lady and Cole himself. Cole wasn't quite sure if John was alive, dead or something in-between. At any rate, there were four Conduits in New Marais; Cole, Kuo, Nix and that unknown flying lady that John created, activated or saved or however you wish to put it. 

Sitting down on top of an air conditioner at some random rooftop, Cole decided to take a breather. Things were a mess, no doubt about it. Empire City had been a mess, but at least that was just a single city. Now... things were so much bigger, so much worse. Where do you start when you wish to clean up such a mess? The air suddenly went cold and a faint breeze stroked against Cole's bare neck. 

"Morning Kuo." He said over his shoulder. 

She walked around on his left hand side. "Do you have eyes at the back of your head?" She asked with a light tone. 

"Oh no. It's just that you're the only one I know that can drop the air temperature so fast." He chuckled while turning to face her. 

"A lot on your mind?" Kuo asked, sounding seriously concerned. Cole nodded. Yeah, he had a lot on his mind. He let his eyes glide towards his right, looking towards the horizon. 

"How's Zeke?" He asked after a minute of calm silence. 

"Worse." Kuo replied quickly and sympathetically. 

That stung. No, that hurt. It stabbed like hell in his gut, in his heart. First he'd lost Trish and now Zeke was next? Because what he'd become he was damned to be alone or let those getting too close be hurt and killed? Cole wanted to crack up, explode and fall to pieces. He wanted to scream, cry, yell and just let it all out so bad his clenched fists were trembling. 

It didn't happen. Kuo was right there, just a few feet away. As her senior as far as Conduit powers went, if he lost it in front of her now, she'd loose her last anchor point too. Cole was quite sure that Nix would soon follow, despite all that tough attitude she put up, that was one thing she couldn't handle. He had become the glue that held them together, the pillar they all leaned on. Question was, who could he lean on if Zeke died? 

He noticed that Kuo was silently holding her breath. Guess this is why Zeke always stripped me down to my trunks in poker, he thought to himself. Cole took of his bag and started fumbling around inside it, looking for something. He fished up a pair of dented coke can. 

"Want one?" He offered Kuo with a half smile. 

Kuo let out her breath through her nose, icy vapor forming a small cloud around her mouth and nose. Putting her hands behind her back, she smiled slightly and silently shook her head a little. 

"Suit yourself." Cole shrugged and put one can away before opening the other. 

Much to his surprise, the coke shot out a steam of foam straight to his face the moment the cap was opened. Soaked and baffled, Cole made weird faces as the coke can settled and the soda rippled down his face. At that point Kuo burst out laughing and Cole soon joined her. The tension was gone and the air was filled with honest, joyful laughter for the first time since the two had met. Running his hand over his face to wipe off the coke, Cole sighed and chuckled a little to himself. 

"I should have seen that one coming. It's not like I took the bus up here." He admitted, as if he'd lost a bet. Taking a sip, he made another sour face. 

"It's warm! Guess the morning sun in New Marais was not going easy on it." He complained. 

Kuo stepped up and poked the can with a single finger, making sure not to touch Cole's hand. The can surface began to chill and water drops started to form on its dented and scratched surface. 

"How's that? Better?" She asked him, taking a step back. Cole took another sip and smiled at her. 

"Yeah, just great. Thanks." He told her. 

The coke was frozen solid inside the can, but Cole didn't tell her that. A white lie to keep the mood from crashing, that much must be allowed he thought to himself. There was another minute of silence. Things had been hectic lately. Heck, things are still hectic, so Cole and Kuo enjoyed every moment of rest, peace and quiet they could get. True enough, it didn't take long before Cole's phone rang. Laroche's number, that can't be good, Cole thought before he answered. 

"Sorry to call first thing in the morning, but you better start looking for Nix." Laroche said. 

"What is it she's done this time?" Cole almost groaned as Nix was no stranger to go out of her way to do things her way. 

"It's the RFI, she took it and went to look for some flying girl." Laroche replied, seriously worried. 

Kuo and Cole exchanged looks, both of them worried. Nix was against John's plan to create more Conduits from the start and wasn't too happy with the idea that she was no longer special since John had created Conduits on his way to New Marais. Armed with the RFI, she might do something rash. 

"She... she can't do anything, right? I mean, the RFI is tuned to John's radiation frequency and he's dead." Kuo's voices slid from worried to scared. 

Cole thought it over. Kuo had a point and that thing still needed power enough for a small nuclear power-plant to work. Without getting it re-tuned and hooked up to a big enough power source, I was nothing but a fancy paper weight. 

"Okay, Laroche. I'll start looking for her." Cole replied before he hung up. He put the coke can away and strapped on his back-pack again. 

"Duty calls." He sighed to Kuo. 

"Right behind you, coach." She smiled.


	2. You Got No Right

The two got a tip from a police officer that Nix might be in Ascension Parish, so Cole and Kuo rushed over with all the speed they could muster. Since power was the key, Kuo suggested that they check the various power generators that were in Ascension Parish. Thankfully, they got lucky on their first try and found Nix and some stranger tied up next to her. 

"Nix! What are you doing?" Cole demanded of her as he rushed over to her. 

Kuo stood in the background, keeping ordinary people out of the way and hoping that Cole could defuse the situation without blowing anything up. 

"This is the one, isn't it? This here bitch is one of the Beast's little puppies!" Nix was boiling over with rage, throwing a tantrum and pointing accusing fingers at the poor woman. 

"What of it Nix? So what if she's a Conduit that John activated?" Cole grabbed Nix by her shoulders, forcing their eyes to meet. 

Nix went on about how the Beast was a hypocrite. He wanted to activate Conduits, killing normals in the process. But he didn't let her babies live, even if they were Conduits. 

"Those things weren't Conduits Nix, they were monsters, senseless animals created by Bertrand." Kuo objected firmly. 

"Shut up bitch! I ain't talkin' to some dame that got ice water in her veins!" Nix bit back. 

"ENOUGH!" Cole shouted at both of them. This was like having two teen daughters hating each other over petty things men would never understand, he thought to himself. 

"Listen to me, Nix. Kuo has a point. Those... things weren't Conduits. They were normal men and women that Bertrand used his powers on, to turn them into puppets. That is why...!" Cole wanted to finish, but Nix brushed of his hands and turned her back on him. "That is why John killed them Nix and you know it!" He finished, even if he had to say it to her back. 

Nix counter argued that even if they were Bertrand's creation, they were not mindless monsters and the Beast had no right to kill them off. This was getting them nowhere. Cole sighed deeply and tried to twist some persuasive argument that he could use to calm Nix down out of his head, but it was as much of a mess as a New Marais plantation house. Still, he had to give it a go. Fighting Nix head on was not a valid option as far as Cole was concerned. 

"Look, this woman is a victim of circumstances that she had no say in. Even if you... did whatever you tried to do to her, it would not bring back those... things." He began before he put in one last push. "Not even John was that powerful." 

Nix head was wrapped in revenge. It seemed like a single track that she was riding, come hell or high water. The Beast had taken away her puppies, so she'd do the same in return. An eye for an eye and all that jazz. However, Cole pointed out that it was no point in doing that now, as the Beast was gone. 

"You got no right to take away this woman's life just to get even with someone who's already dead." Cole told her sternly. 

A small crowd had by now gathered around them, keeping a safe distance just to be on the safe side. By the look of things, Nix appeared to be coming around to Cole's reasoning. As she turned to face Cole her face was calm and clouded with regret. It was just another heat of the moment thing that she'd tried to pull off. No hard feelings, for despite her act and appearance, deep down Nix was a good woman. She was just not used to having people around her that wanted to help her and which she could rely and depend on. 

It all seemed well and good, but it took just a casual sideways glance to make Cole's efforts in vain. Nix spotted Kuo untying the woman and for whatever reason, it set her off like a bomb. Pushing Cole aside, she grabbed the handle of his Amp and teleported right next to Kuo before hitting her hard in the head with the Amp. Cole spun around on his heel and cracked up his powers, taking aim at Nix. 

"NIX! STOP!" He cried out to her, but Nix would not listen. 

As she was about to stab the downed Kuo with the Amp, Cole fired a Magnum Bolt straight at Nix's head. The blast knocked Nix off her balance and she dropped the Amp with a cold metallic clanking sound. She wasted not time to recover however and the next second she was all over Cole. Not wanting people to get hurt in the cross fire, Cole wrestled free, scrambled to his feet and secured his Amp before withdrawing with Nix hot on his heels. Fort Philippe is nearby and seems like the best place to duke it out with Nix without having to worry too much about casualties and structural damage. 

Nix kept Cole on his toes throughout the fight. She was after all a seasoned Conduit and knew how to make the most of her powers to get out of tight spots. After a long and grueling fight, Cole managed to come out victorious. It was a victory earned thanks to his experience and that he was not only restricted to electrical powers, but also had some ice based powers thanks to Kuo letting him copy some of her powers. 

Cole laid down on his back, panting deeply for air. He had sot in his face and was covered with burns. Placing his hand at a lamppost, Cole drained some much needed electrical power to speed up his recovery. 

"Cole! Are you alright?" Kuo's cold fingers curved around his left cheek and his blurry vision started to come into focus. 

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." He assured her as he sat up. Looking around, he couldn't see Nix anywhere. "Nix?" He asked Kuo, sounding concerned that she might come around for round 2. 

Kuo also looked around and it wasn't until she stood up and peek over the edge of the walkway that she found Nix. She floated lifelessly in the water just outside the outer walls of the fort. 

"Ah shit! Come on Kuo, we got to get her out of there." Cole told her as he waved some of Laroche's men over. 

Despite their speedy rescue, Nix's life could not be saved. She'd been pretty badly beaten up by the fight and the time she spent unconscious face down in the water was the last nail. Cole took it hard when he got the news. It was the forth Conduit that he'd killed. Sure, he'd killed, either by accident or in a fit of rage, some bad guys from Empire City, but he'd always make up for it by helping wounded bystanders whenever he got the chance. Cole wasn't perfect, he wasn't God and he had no desire to apply for that position either. 

The first was Kessler and that was just flat out weird how that one turned out. The second one was Bertrand. A wild one for sure, but definitely more beast than man. Like taking down a wild animal. The third one was John, but he was so... alien that it didn't feel like a kill. More like stopping a force of nature, like closing the doors when a hurricane is howling outside in your front yard. Was this a sign of things to come? Cole hoped not. 

"How are you holding up, coach?" Kuo asked carefully, taking a seat next to Cole on the rear bumper of an ambulance. 

Kuo most likely wanted to comfort him as best she could, but more than that she wanted to assure herself that Cole could keep it together. White lies would only take you so far before they start fade to pitch black ugly lies that tear people apart and ruin their lives. Better stop while the game is good, Cole decided. 

"Not so good, Kuo. Not so good at all." He replied, with an empty stare at the silhouette of Fort Philippe. 

With Trish dead, Zeke down for the count and Warden Harms either dead, dying or exploring his Conduit powers, Cole had no-one. 

"So... my cellphone died on me. The battery is drained and I was wondering if you'd charge it for me?" Kuo asked, pulling Cole out of his thoughts. 

Cole turned to face her and with a smile patted her on her shoulder. It was weird how her skin could be so smooth and soft, yet ice cold at the same time. "Sure thing." He replied, taking the battery in his hand.


	3. What I Meant To Say

Cole was sitting next to Zeke's hospital bed, giving his long time friend his daily visit. For the moment he was sleeping off some drugs that the nurse had given him. Good ol' Zeke. 

"Seriously man. You should be out there, working on your tan. You're not going to impress the ladies if you're pale as a vampire." Cole mumbled to his friend. 

A slurping sound caught his attention and Cole looked up and across the hospital bed. Kuo stood there, carefully holding a cup by the handle and drinking through a straw. Kuo noticed that Cole looked at her with a questioning look on his face. 

"What?" She asked, sounding a little defensive. 

"Nothing. I was just wondering what you're drinking." Cole replied, quickly assuring her he wasn't thinking of anything weird. 

"Coffee." Kuo almost pouted. 

A snigger got the better of Cole and although he tried to cover it up by clearing his throat with a serious expression, Kuo gave him a look that said loud and clear that his cover was blown. 

Leaning back in his chair, Cole said "Coffee? You're drinking coffee through a straw?" That didn't really do much to improve Kuo's mood. 

"If I drink it the usual way, it gets cold too fast. I hate the taste of cold coffee." She explained, still pouting. 

Cole nodded as if he knew exactly what she was talking about. 

"Sounds tough. I've been through that, adjusting after getting powers. First time I took a shower? Ha! Don't get me started. At least you don't have that problem." He said. 

Maybe it was because of what Kuo's powers could do or perhaps it was just a simple mind trick from meeting her glaring eyes, but the room felt noteworthy colder after Cole's comment. Cole's eyes went from left to right, and as he folded his arms across his chest in an attempt to keep himself warmer, he realized in the back of his head that he'd just stepped on a landmine as far as touchy subjects went. 

"For your information Cole," Kuo started. "I too have problems in the shower. Comfortably warm water feels like boiling hot water now and the water on the floor freezes." She finished with a cold and unnaturally stiff smile. An awkward silence followed as the minutes themselves felt frozen solid. 

"So... how did it go?" Cole asked finally. 

"What?" Kuo looked baffled. "Your first shower, how did it go?" 

Kuo put down her cup and started fiddling with the quilt embarrassingly. 

"You first..." She mumbled, her voice at the edge of hearing. 

"I was jumping around like a fool, screamed like a girl and cursed like a drunken sailor. Trish came crashing in, asking what was wrong and Zeke... the guy was no help at all. He was red as an apple in the face, laughing so hard he wet his pants." Cole admitted sheepishly, the image of Trish's worried face and Zeke gasping for air between laughs, vivid in his memory. 

It helped lighten the mood. The two of them giggled and chuckled, Cole wiping a tear from his eye before he said to Kuo 

"Your turn. I've told you mine." 

Still embarrassed, Kuo did after a moment of thinking decide to follow through. 

"Well... in my case. I quickly learned that warm water was bad and cold water wasn't cold, just... wet." She started. Turning around and looking out the window she continued. "I didn't realize that the water was freezing at my feet, since I didn't feel the cold. Had to learn the hard way that water on top of ice inside a shower is a bad combination." 

Brushing the curtains aside to get a better view to her right, Kuo took a little pause as if considering to call it quits, make something up or just go all the way. 

With a shrug she admitted honestly: "I slipped and crashed into the washing machine. Zeke, who was the one nursing me back to health, kicked the bathroom door of the hinges, gun in hand and..." She just left it hanging. 

"No WAY!" Cole said, with a surprised and disbelieving look on his face. 

This was so unexpected and it took him by such surprise that Cole actually got out of the chair. In the window reflection he could see Kuo's face. Her skin might be naturally pale because of her powers, but this was one thing that would make her blush. With closed eyes and a shy smile, she nodded. It might have been because of the faintest of blushes, or maybe that was just a trick of the sunlight on Kuo's window reflection, but the room didn't feel so cold anymore. 

The two left the hospital, still wondering of how to best approach the mountain of things that needs to sorted out. Things were still a mess and both of them felt responsible for it. The militia had fallen apart after Bertrand had been killed, taking the corrupted monsters with him. There might be a handful of those things still roaming the swamp, but out there they didn't pose much threat to the city. 

After all the blast cores were consumed by Cole, Vermaak 88 lost a lot of their drive. Based on Cole and Kuo's experience with one of the defectors, they were all doomed to descend further into insanity as feared by Dr. Wolfe and reach higher stages of mutation, a side affect of gaining their powers through unnatural means. The bulk of their forces were dealt with when Cole collected the last blast core. Kuo was determined to assist the local police force as well as Laroche's men in rounding up any Vermaak 88 still on the loose. 

Cole let Kuo do that more or less solo. He'd step right up and assist if he felt it was needed or if Kuo asked for help, but he saw it as a good chance for Kuo to come to terms with her powers, what they could do, the responsibility that came with them and how to best utilize them. Certain things you just have to figure out on your own. No amount of lectures or speeches could make it easier to understand. 

While Kuo headed off to Flood Town to check up on a Vermaak 88 tip, Cole decided to follow up on something he'd postponed long enough. That woman that John saved when he activated her Conduit powers. On their first meeting, Cole had been too shocked and stunned in disbelief over John's survival, who he turned out to be and the nature of the plague to do anything about the woman. He could just watch her take off to the skies as a testament to her Conduit powers. 

Not that their second meeting was any better. Getting kidnapped by a royally pissed of Nix, almost killed by the RFI, even if that failed, Nix could still just beat the poor woman to death or burn her or... Cole stopped his thoughts. There had been enough death and misery to last several lifetimes. He had to set things straight. Cole didn't want this woman, whoever she turned out to be, to become another Nix. 

A flying human, if there was anything that could just get out of town with no questions asked, it was that. Grab some basic stuff and some money, you're good to go. Play it smart and leave under the cover of the night, because the mess New Marais is in, its easy for people to just disappear. A daunting task, but that didn't stop Cole from trying. "Excuse me mister, have you seen a flying woman lately?" It was a weird question, but you had to start somewhere. 

Some just gave Cole a weird look, others either mixed her with either Kuo or Nix, both had flying like abilities. A third group could not help, although they said they'd keep their eyes open and let him know if they saw something. It wasn't much, but it was a start of sorts. Word of mouth just might reach this woman and she might take contact. Cole did save her life after all. That's gotta count for something, right? 

The sun had set and Cole decided to call it a day. He'd been by all the medical clinics all over town and asked them to keep their eyes open for the woman in question. Kuo had brought the same issue to the attention of the police and Laroche's men. Zeke's place on the roof in Ville Cochon didn't feel the same, not without Zeke there. Well sure, Zeke took out on several of his crazy little missions and was gone for a day or two, but now... everything was different. 

Dark looming clouds were rumbling with distant thunder in the horizon. Cole figured it was best to spend the night indoors. This years camping out season appeared to be over. Not quite sure where to turn to, as Zeke was mainly in charge of the logistics, Cole turned to Kuo. She looked quite surprised when she opened the door and saw Cole standing in the hallway. "It's going to rain pretty bad tonight, so I was wondering if I could crash on your couch or something?" He asked her. 

Kuo looked a little flabbergasted, but opened her door wider and took a step aside, inviting him in. 

"You seem almost a little helpless without Zeke around." Kuo noted, pouring Cole a cup of hot soup. 

"Yeah. Before the blast in Empire, I was on top of everything. Things changed a lot with the blast, but Zeke was always there." Cole said, reflecting over past events. "Just when I get settled in with the whole post blast situation and getting into a routine of sorts, you show up and we end up here." Sipping on the soup, Cole took a seat in the sofa. 

Walking over to where Cole sat, Kuo nodded as she took a seat on the armrest of the sofa. 

"Again, Zeke took care of many small and mundane problems, so that I could focus on the task ahead. And now...?" Cole's voice choked with emotion and tears. I can't loose him, it was the only thing that circled around inside Cole's head. 

"I'll try to get through to my contacts in NSA first thing in the morning." Kuo said, sounding sincerely reassuring and comforting. Cole just silently nodded his head, sniffing deeply while looking at the floor between his feet. 

Cole couldn't sleep. The sofa was hard as rock and the armrest where Kuo had been sitting was freezing cold. 

"Might as well been sleeping on the sidewalk." He grumbled to himself under his breath. 

Come to think of it, how did Kuo get this place anyway? Well, she was stationed by the NSA to investigate the First Sons, so... this is like an NSA crib? Cole raised his head a little and peered into the dark room around him. Sure looked like it. Not the newest place on the block, but not too bad either. A stroke of paint, perhaps a new fridge for the kitchen. What was he thinking? The last thing Kuo would need was a fridge. 

"Problems falling asleep?" 

A startled shock shot through Cole's body like a bullet when he spun around, nearly ending on the floor, to see Kuo standing in the doorway to her bedroom. 

"Y-yeah... I have a lot on my mind. You?" Cole said as he straightened himself on the sofa. 

"Same." Kuo nodded, folding her arms and leaning on the right side of the door frame. 

Cole was uncertain of where to look. Yeah, it was dark in the room, but his eyes had adjusted accordingly by now. Okay, he couldn't make out any details, but he could still make out vague outlines and it was unlikely that Kuo would sleep in the same clothes she wore during the day. Just be cool about it, Cole figured. 

"I just remembered, you snore." Kuo commented as if the thought just popped into her head. It took a small moment for it to sink in. 

"I do not." Cole snorted, turning around in a futile attempt to find a better position. 

Several long minutes of silence followed. Either Kuo had gone back to bed or she was still standing there. For some reason, Cole wasn't too keen to turn around to find out. 

"Well you sure did snored like a chainsaw when you were sleeping off those blast cores." Kuo said, her soft voice carried gently across the room. 

"You were watching over me?" Cole asked over his shoulder. He could almost see Kuo's baffled face. 

Kuo made a few short, almost inaudible sounds as if wanting to start to say something, but cut herself short at the first letter. 

"What I meant to say..." She started and it sounded as if she was digging for the right words, trying them out in her mind before discarding them. "Zeke isn't the only one that has your back. You're not alone Cole." 

When he peeked curiously over his shoulder with a puzzled look on his face, all Cole saw was the door to Kuo's bedroom closing the last inch very carefully, hardly making any sound at all.


	4. Near Life Experience

Cole was halfway into the fridge when Kuo came out from her bedroom. 

"Good morning." He called to her, while checking the end date for a pack of eggs. 

"You're up early." Kuo yawned back. 

That was one way to look at it. From Cole's view, it was more like he never slept in the first place. He didn't get comfortable long enough on Kuo's sofa to fall asleep. Kuo took a quick moment in the bathroom to freshen up and getting dressed, before join Cole at the kitchen table. 

"What's on today's menu?" She asked, looking over the table. 

"Not much. I think even Jamie Oliver would be hard pressed to make something exciting from what you had in the fridge." Cole said, helping himself with some scrambled eggs. 

"I was thinking more like, what are you going to do today?" Kuo explained. 

Sitting opposite across the table, Cole thought it over. There was the usual visit to Zeke at the hospital to see how he was doing, then some patrolling to keep the public peace and trying to figure out what to do next. That last part was the real trick. 

"Pretty much the usual." He said. 

Kuo nodded, poking a piece of bacon around on her plate. 

"Still going to look for that woman?" She asked. 

That was true. He still hadn't found anything related to the woman that could fly. I better check out if my efforts from yesterday has bore fruit, Cole thought to himself. After breakfast, the two went their separate ways. Kuo would try to get through to her contacts in the NSA before checking in with the police to see if she could help them with anything. Cole headed to the hospital to check out on Zeke and while he was at it, he asked if they had heard anything about the woman he'd asked after the day before. Sadly, they had not, but promised to let him know if they did. 

Zeke was getting worse, Cole could tell. For starters, he was just put into the hospital to get some rest. No more wild adventures along with the electric man. Then they started with various painkillers and other drugs that bought a little time, but did little to heal. And now, now Zeke is strapped to all sorts of devices, monitors and what have you not. Guess this is it, huh? The idea just slowly floated to the surface of Cole's mind as he stood in the middle of the hospital room. 

Cole took his usual seat and just sat there, watching out the window that was across the room. A nurse came in and checked some of the gizmos before quietly leaving again, but Cole took hardly any notice of it. He could be hit in the head with a baseball bat and he'd hardly blink. 

"It's not fair, is it Zeke?" Cole finally said in a hushed voice. "I guess I can relate to how you felt back in Empire City. It's not fair that just one of us..." He stopped, lowering his head. "... is going to have a near life experience." 

It was depressive, it robbed him of spirits and the will to keep up the fight, but Cole couldn't go without visiting Zeke at least once a day. The phone started ringing and it turned out to be one of the field medics out at the Gas Works, or what was left of it after Bertrand tore down most of it during his last rampage. It turned out that the flying woman had turned herself in and was waiting for Cole at the medic station. Cole thanked him and arranged with Kuo to meet her there. 

They met up with the medic, who explained that before noon a woman came flying down from the skies, with a bag of medicine. She told the medic that she'd gotten the medicine from a camp several miles out of town and that it was Cole's actions in New Marais that inspired her to make an effort. 

"So she flew with the medical supplies for several miles in one go?" Kuo asked, amazed by the feat. 

"No ma'am." The medic told her. "She had to take several breaks along the way. She's just not used to carrying such a heavy load. But she made the trip out in one go though, no problem." 

Kuo stuck around for more questions with the medic, while Cole headed inside the medic station. It was the same as always; sick and injured, young and old, covering along the walls and in the corners. Some sleeping, kids crying, parents shushing and comfortingly rocking them back and forth in their arms. Back in Empire City Cole could do something for these people, but here and now? Not so much. His healing powers were great for physical injuries – broken bones and what not, but inefficient against the plague. 

That didn't stop people form looking up at him with hope, prays and pleads in their eyes. It felt like dragging several iron balls chained to his feet when Cole had to walk by them; their pleas unanswered and their hopes diminished. 

"You the one that brought the supplies?" He asked a woman that stood bent over a crate of medical supplies, sorting out different types of pills and needles. She turned around and was visibly taken aback by standing face to face with Cole. 

"Uh... yeah, that's me. I heard from the doctor that you were looking for me." She said, sounding almost fearful. 

They had a lot to talk over, but doing it in front of this type of crowd, any type of crowd for that matter, was not ideal. 

"Yeah, that's right. I'd like to have a word with you, outside. Okay?" Cole asked in a friendly manner. 

The woman nodded and followed Cole outside. Seeing the two coming out, the doctor excused himself from Kuo and headed inside to help the injured. 

"So... am I in some kind of trouble or anything?" The woman asked nervously. 

Cole and Kuo exchange looks for a small second before assuring the woman they just wanted a quick chat. 

"You did the right thing, coming back and with medicine as well." Kuo praised the woman. 

She seemed rather shy about it, but accepted Kuo's praise without putting herself down. 

"What's your name?" Cole asked. 

"Me? I'm Sonya, Sonya Croft." She replied. 

Turned out that Sonya was an elementary school teacher, teaching in religion and history. Some of the kids at her school had found a blast shard in the school yard, and after some debate the teachers decided to confiscate it. It was entrusted to Sonya for safe keeping. The prolonged exposure to the radiation emitted by the blast shard gave her the plague faster than any other at the school. 

"We wanted to hand it over to you, but we had troubles getting in touch with you or anyone close to you." She explained. 

Once she was submitted to a storage turned into a makeshift hospital, her symptoms became less aggressive and progressed at a slower phase. 

"What about the blast shard?" Cole asked, worried that it might still be at the school, acting like a magnet for trouble. 

"After the... incident at the storage, I went back to the school and learned that it had been stolen by someone." Sonya admitted sadly. 

Cole thought for a moment. Several times he'd seen people walk around with blast shards. They'd picked them up, figuring they might get a finders fee by handing it over to the militia or something along those lines. Another, and scarier option, was that it could have been the blast shard bomber that stole. In search for more raw materials for his bombs, it would be easy to steal something from a school. 

"Did they get the guy that did it? Recover the blast shard?" Kuo asked, also sounding concerned – probably thinking along the same lines as Cole. 

Sonya told them they reported it to the police, but at the time they had their hands full with just about everything else. A petty theft from an elementary school were no one got hurt fell pretty low on their list of priories. 

"I think we better give that case a higher priority." Cole said. 

Kuo was about to object, and with good reason. Theft wasn't something they should spend time on, not with a million other issues on their ever growing list. 

"That is a blast shards, they're emitting radiation which is the cause of the plague. To stop more people for getting sick, we must reduce the radiation to an absolute minimum." Cole said firmly. 

His argument was sound and while Kuo didn't press the issue, she said that if Cole went blast shard hunting, she'd help solve other problems. Cole had no problems with that, and asked Sonya to come with him to have a closer look at her school. It might just be a petty theft and in all honesty, there were bigger issues than a single blast shard on the loose. The way Cole saw it, this was the best chance to coach Sonya into a decent Conduit and prevent her from turning into a loose cannon like Nix, Alden, Sasha or Bertrand. 

After a quick chat with the principal of the school, Cole and Sonya had a look around. Parallel to this, Cole asked Sonya a few questions and gave her a few early pointers of what it meant to be a Conduit. She seemed to take it rather well, though she was hardly superhero material and considering her power so far was just flight, she'd not become a superhero unless her powers grew. 

"So how about this." Cole started, taking a gamble. "If you could get more powers, would you?" He asked her directly, making sure she had to answer. 

Sonya thought it over for a few minutes. "I'm not sure. These things comes with a price tag, don't they?" She replied. 

Good answer, considering that Cole had not mentioned that she got her powers from John, killing everyone else in the storage. Maybe she'd already connected those dots? 

"That's true." Cole confirmed. "So, the follow up question would then be, how much would you be willing to pay to get more power?" 

Again Sonya thought it over for a few moments. She was a school teacher, good with kids and as far as Cole could tell, a pretty normal person. 

"I'm honestly content with what I have now. With practice I can get better, maybe a little faster, but I don't feel any need to be able to dodge bullets or breathe fire." She finally replied sincerely. 

That was a load of his chest, but Cole knew that these things might change. One thing is to talk calmly about it, another thing is to be put in a situation where you're damned if you do something or damned if you don't do anything. Like what happened with Cole and Trish. What would Sonya choose in such a situation? Would her powers, however humble and simple now, ever put her in such a situation? Cole hoped not. 

Sonya appeared to be a people person, very good with people and had some great social skills. 

"Sonya, I'd like to ask a favor of you." Cole said as the two of them walked out the school gate. 

"Sure, if I can help I'd like to." She responded. 

"I pretty much cleared much of New Marais of blast shards, but I've seen people in the streets carrying them around. I'd like you to fly around the city and if you spot one, ask the person if they'd give it to you." Cole told her, hoping for the best. 

"Right, because they're the cause of the plague." Sonya added understandingly. 

Cole also stressed that it was important that she didn't touch the blast shard directly, since that would make her absorb it and consequently grow stronger. 

Much to his relief, Sonya agreed to do this for Cole and hand any shards she found over to the city bank where they'd lock them inside the main vault, to reduce the radiation. It was a risk giving Sonya that kind of task and information. She could be tempted to absorb the shards and grow stronger, allowing her to fly faster and longer. While that in itself might not be much, it could spell disaster. The ability to fly at supersonic speed half around the globe would be handy for any criminal. Robbing a bank is one thing, getting away and spending the loot is another. He'd just have to keep an extra eye on her in the start, then take it from there. 

Taking a lunch break, Cole was sitting on one of the verandas in Ville Cochon, helping himself with a hot dog when Kuo rang on his phone. 

"Cole, good news. I got through to someone that can help us out with supplies to the city." Kuo sounded thrilled and excited at the other end. 

"Ha! Hahahaha! Great work Kuo! Ah man, that's great news. So who is it? When do we meet?" Cole could finally start to see hints of a silver lining around the cloud that had hung over his head the past few days. 

"Ah... uhm... let's see here. She's on her way now and wanted to meet first thing in the morning. Moya Jones. Her name is Moya Jones." 

Cole froze stiff. "Wha...?"


	5. Better Luck Next Time

Cole was nothing short of confused and as minutes ticked away, his confusion was given a slow simmer, allowing to boil into anger. Moya. That woman had tried to screw Cole over more than once during his time at Empire City. It started as a cut and dry deal – you're stuck inside the quarantine, pointed out as the architect of the whole mess. Do this little thing for me and you'll get outside the quarantine and your name cleaned of any accusations that is related to the Empire City incident. How could Cole refuse? He'd be best friends with Moya, had she not screwed him over with her lies. 

Find John, my dear husband, pretty please with sugar on top. Thinking back at it now made Cole want to kick himself for falling for one of the oldest tricks in the book. 

"Should have listen to you, Zeke." He grunted to himself, still waiting for Kuo to meet up with him. 

Maybe he was overcautious or just plain paranoid, but this was one thing he didn't want to talk about over the phone. Still, things didn't add up. Cole was certain that Moya had drowned back in Empire City, when the USS George Washington sunk. 

Finally, after what seemed like endless minutes, Kuo showed up. 

"I got her as fast as I could, you didn't sound too happy about the news." She said as she made a soft landing. 

"It's this Moya person." Cole started, already sounding sour. "I could be wrong of course, that it is just a coincidence that two women have the same name, but somehow I doubt it." 

Kuo looked confused and lost. So Cole sat down with her and told her the whole story; how it started with the quarantine, the promise of a ticket out and a clean record. The connection between John and the Ray Sphere, Moya's lies and her later obsession in containing and controlling Conduits, eliminating those who'd not cooperate. 

By the end of the tale, Kuo was at a total loss for words. She just sat there, shocked and stunned in disbelief. Guess it must have hit her hard, being an NSA agent and having faith that the government with all its organs and institutions always operated with the people's best interest at heart. As far as Cole was concerned, the whole serve and protect routine was nothing more than a paint job to make things look pretty and shiny. The engine, the bolts and pistons that made the whole thing tick and run? That was dark and dirty, making it impossible to get involved without getting some dirt on yourself. 

Was that how things worked? Everyone being more or less dirty from tampering with the big machine? Always being held in check, because you're afraid that if you don't deliver, you'd be ratted out and all the dirt you have on you comes into view. If that was the case, Moya was dirtier than most and she most likely got plenty of dirt on others in the system as well. 

"So what do we do?" Kuo asked, her eyes worried, confused – searching and looking for answers. 

"I don't like this at all, but we are limited in our options and time isn't something we have a lot of." Cole admitted, sounding defeated. 

Cole wanted to get out of this mess and currently Moya was the only bridge across. Another option could come later down the road, but could they afford to wait? People were dying for Christ's sake. Even if they did wait it out, Moya might fall back and set up a puppet that danced to her tune, luring Cole and Kuo to come across. 

"Listen, we should hear her out. I know, I know you've been through some serious stuff with her, but Cole... people are dying here." Kuo began and Cole could already see where she was going with it. "It's not just here, it's most of the East Coast. This is too much for just the two of us Cole, we need help. Even in this town we can't keep it together without the police or Laroche's men." 

It was the truth and as much as Cole hated it, he could not see any other way around it. However, he now had an advantage; he knew who he was dealing with, what kind of person it was and he could play his cards accordingly. 

"Okay, okay. This is how we're going to do it. We'll... ah... we'll play with our cards tight to our chest. The more we know that she doesn't, the better. Moya might find out, but she shouldn't find it out from us." Cole began, getting up and phasing back and forth. 

The two talked to get their stories coordinated, in case Moya wanted to talk with them separately. Kuo was concerned that Moya might not play by fundamental rules, as they were Conduits rather than humans. 

"No! We're humans! Don't let anyone tell you different and if they do, tell them to stuff it. Insist on your rights as a human and as a US citizen." Cole cut of that part of the debate swiftly, leaving no room for buts or maybes. 

Further more they decided to keep Sonya out of it, she was still to fresh and if included she'd be the weakest link in the chain. They agreed to keep Dr. Wolfe's work a secret, the blast shards, the blast cores, what they were, what they could do to Conduits, the RFI and most importantly John's fate. As far as they were concerned, the Beast had been a senseless and ridiculous powerful Conduit that was taken out in New Marais thanks to the combined effort of Cole, Kuo and Nix. Moya might be interested in trying to recreate another Beast, so it was absolutely critical that they told them that the Beast was mindless and uncontrollable. An uncontrollable weapon is not interesting for the military. If they couldn't direct it towards desirable targets, let alone turn it off, the Beast was better off dead than alive. 

Bertrand's fate was a different issue. They had exposed him and his methods themselves as a step on the ladder to overthrow him and his militia. A powerful Conduit that could create minions and then use these as a personal army? That would be a tempting prospect for any general or admiral. 

"We better tell her that, if it comes up or if it can be traded for something we need." Cole sighed. 

"Are you crazy? Bertrand is just what they're after. Yes, he was uncontrollable as that giant bug, but he didn't need to change to turn other people into his little abominations! Normal people I might add." Kuo objected strongly. 

Cole started telling Kuo in more detail about Sasha, the Conduit that took over The Neon. The Reapers were a faction of thugs, criminals and drug dealers that operated in Empire City. After the quarantine was erected, the group grew rapidly in both size and aggression. Controlled by Sasha's black tar, they were originally simple addicts and punks dealing drugs, although their ranks were later expanded using civilians being controlled by the black tar. In a short time, they were able to take control of Empire City's Neon District, and ran the district until Cole brought about their downfall. 

"So Moya already knows about the possibility?" Kuo asked once Cole was done explaining. 

"Not only knows, she has hands on experience with it as well. Sasha got captured and they used the tar to get to me, somehow knowing that it would mess me up, but not kill me." Cole admitted, remembering the raid on Zeke's apartment. 

He suspected that the white reapers were non-active Conduits exposed to the tar. Rather than getting a unique ability, they all got the same and weren't really that powerful. In that sense, Sasha and John were similar, in that they could both activate Conduits, though John did it for real and Sasha was more limited in what end result she could create. Its possible that Alden had a similar ability, but again, the Conduits weren't fully activated and didn't have unique individual powers. 

"While we chat with Moya, we keep Sonya busy looking for blast shards. Should Moya want to talk to Sonya, let her." Cole said. 

"She could let it slip that John activated her powers." Kuo pointed out, but Cole found it unlikely. 

From his talks with Sonya, she didn't know that kind of details and even if she did and told Moya, Cole still had some angles he could play to turn it in his favor. Kuo went to get Sonya up to date and Cole went back to do some patrolling. He was especially interested in Swamp Village – cleaning it up before the meeting with Moya would help. She'd probably bring with her a whole S.W.A.T. squad or maybe a small military platoon, but they'd be on her leash. Any Corrupted or trigger happy Vermaak 88 crashing the scene could spell disaster. On the other hand, an insane Crusher could be a strong argument that attempts at mass produce Conduits would cost more than it was worth. 

Upon arriving at the Swamp Village, Cole was swarmed by the residents. They were hungry for news from the city and pleaded him to help them with strange monsters lurking in the nearby woods. Cole told them what he knew, answering their questions as best he could and in turn asked for details regarding these monsters. Promising to take care of the monsters, Cole took off in the direction that they pointed out for him. Based on the description the residents had given him, Cole suspected that he was up against a pack of Gasbags. Not a very fancy or flattering name, but that's what Cole called them. 

Thanks to their suicidal nature, the Gasbags were quickly dealt with. It wasn't a complete cake walk however, as there were no sources of electricity that deep into the woods. Cole was forced to be disciplined with his powers and rather than going all out, he'd play it safe and make sure every shot counted. 

"I'll never get used to that stench." Cole said when the last Gasbag dropped dead. 

Returning to the Swamp Village, Cole assured them that he'd taken care of the monsters and that he'd check with the police to see if they had a radio to spare, so that the village could keep in touch. For the most part Cole did these things and rarely asked for anything in return. These people were hanging on by a few threads, so it felt just wrong to ask for anything more than a smile, a clap on the shoulder and a heartfelt, honest thank you. This case was a little different and while it wasn't much he'd ask for, the words still tasted bad in his mouth. 

"I'm going to meet someone for the government tomorrow and this is the meeting place. I was wondering if you could spare a room where we could talk in private?" 

While they didn't have much and their houses weren't the latest Hilton hotel, they were more than happy to spare a room and give Cole some privacy. 

The next morning, Cole and Kuo headed out to Swamp Village to meet with Moya. Gliding along a electrical line, Cole was uneasy. He hadn't gotten the chance to see Zeke today, but this was important. Hopefully he'd get the chance after the meeting, hopefully. When they arrived, a little ahead of the agreed time, Moya's troops were already setting up shop. A couple of helicopters and at least a dozen scary looking guys in suits, sunglasses and earpieces. 

"Secret Service – what are they doing here?" Kuo wondered shortly after getting an overview. 

One of the helicopters landed and some agents went over to assist with unloading something. Once they cleared out of the way, it became apparent that they haven't unloaded something, it was rather someone. "Moya." Cole hissed with a poorly hidden disgust. The trip down with the USS George Washington had clearly taken its toll. She was strapped to a wheelchair, looking much like a female version of Stephen Hawking. 

"That's her?" Kuo asked. Cole just nodded, trying to keep his anger in check. 

"Hello-Cole. Been-a-while." Moya's voice was twisted through a small speaker. She even sounded like Hawking. 

The three of them went inside the room that the Swamp Village residents had prepared for them. 

"Got-the-people-dancing-to-your-tune,-Cole?" Moya asked sarcastically. 

"No, just a text book hearts & mind campaign I've been doing. You should try it, it actually works." Cole shot back, taking a seat. 

Kuo on the other hand decided to stand, behind Cole. Guess Moya gave her the creeps. The respective parties played their cards. As far as Cole could tell, it was the same deal, new wrapping. A ticket out of this mess, clean record and a government job. 

"How about a sign of good will, first of all? You've got a bad record with me after all." Cole said, helping himself with an apple. 

Moya narrowed her eyes. "What-are-you-up-to-Cole?" She asked coldly. 

"Nothing. Remember Zeke? He's sick and if you can get him out and patched up, we can go on to round two. Otherwise, no more talking." Cole replied. 

"Without-my-help,-he'll-die-and-you'll-rot-in-this-swamp-with-him." Moya pointed out. 

Cole on the other hand did not flinch. Minutes ticked by, Moya and Cole looked in a stare down, a pull and tug of wills. With a quick and short sigh, Cole planted his hands on the table and got up. 

"Better luck next time, Moya." He told her before walking outside.


	6. Come On, Get In

A day and a half had passed since their first chat with Moya. Kuo was doubting if Cole was doing the right thing, playing with people's lives – even using Zeke as a playing card in the negotiations. Cole on the other hand, stuck to his guns. If there was one thing that Kessler had told him, it was not be too tied down to anything or anyone. Cole had to bite the bullet time and time again, making hard and near impossible decisions in a split second, then living with the outcome whatever that might be. 

He knew what he was getting himself into, what kind of person Moya was. Give her an inch and she takes the whole arm and a chunk of your shoulder. Once she gets what she wants, she drops anyone and anything like a hot rock. Cole wasn't sure what her goal was; a power seat in Washington, just some twisted sense of patriotism or some extreme version of justice? With Moya it was three options; join me, get this mind bending device planted inside your skull or drop dead. God knows what she did to your remains. 

The phone rang and rather than Kuo, some police officer or Laroche, it was a nurse at the hospital. Some men in suits had taken Zeke and they would not take no for an answer. Cole rushed over with all the speed he could dig up, but they were long gone by the time he got there. Two possibilities came to mind. Zeke was taken by Moya as a part of their deal, or he was being used as a chip, a hostage to make Cole get on with the damn program. Again the phone rang, this time with a hidden number. 

"MOYA!" Cole snapped when he answer the call. 

"Agent Jones wishes to meet with you Mr. MacGrath." It was probably one of Moya's goons that was doing the talking. 

"I'll be there, same place." Cole grunted before hanging up. 

That was not cool. He'd cracked up and showed his true colors through that outburst. Moya now knew that he still cared about Zeke. Cole didn't want things to get sour between him and Kuo, not with Moya around. He'd be damned if he'd give her a chance to divide and conquer them. 

"Kuo? It's me. Moya got Zeke, we're having a meeting, same place, right now." Cole called her and let her know as soon as he'd calmed down a little. 

Back in Swam Village, Kuo and Cole met with Moya for a second time. 

"Zeke-will-be-taken-care-of.-The-doctors-can't-promise-anything,-but-they'll-do-their-best." Moya started. 

Not much, but it was a step in the right direction. 

"Alright, you've got my attention Moya. What's the deal? The REAL deal this time." Cole asked, taking a seat opposite of the table. 

Conduits were a fact. To the public they were just weird and unconfirmed rumors coming from deranged and confused people from inside the cities leveled by the Beast. To certain branches of the government, they were very much real. Even with the emergency efforts going strong, the government want to move fast to deal with the Conduits. 

They were a valuable asset to the government and steps must be taken to better understand this new breed of people. First step would be to round up all the Conduits and then study them in detail. From there, based on the studies, the government would take the steps it deemed necessary. 

"Okay, where do we two fit in? Lad rat #1 and 2?" Cole asked. 

"I-want-the-two-of-you-to-be-the-first-field-agents-of-this-new-goverment-agency." Moya replied. 

Kuo and Cole exchanged puzzled looks. 

"Where do you fit into all this?" Kuo asked Moya. 

"Agency-director." Moya answered with a cold smile. 

Cole ran it over in his head and the deal didn't sound too bad, but he was quite sure that with Moya behind the wheel, she'd be able to twist it into something else. 

"On another issue, what happened to Alden and Sasha?" Cole asked. 

"Dead-and-dead." Moya replied immediately without a flinch. 

"And Sasha's tar?" Cole pressed. Moya didn't answer that one and instead avoided his eyes. 

"If... if we're to work for you, we need to know we can trust you." Kuo shot in, supporting Cole's question. 

A few samples were probably saved and shipped to DARPA for further examination, Cole thought to himself. 

Back at Zeke's rooftop place, Kuo and Cole took some time to discuss the deal and what to do from here. 

"I can't bring myself to trust her." Cole admitted. 

Even if she came through with Zeke, he'd have a hard time trusting her and if she told them Zeke died, how would he know if she actually made an effort and not just left him in some basement? 

"Even so, she has a point Cole. The Beast trashed most of the East Coast and killed millions. Out of those millions, hundreds if not thousands of Conduits were activated." Kuo argued. "This is too much for us, Cole. We need help from the outside, we need to get organized. Taking this into our own hands, all alone? It would never work." 

Good old reasonable and logical Kuo. She was right and Cole would not argue the points she'd made and the deal would be pretty sweet if Moya was kept out of the loop. They had the... for the lack of a better term, expertize required for the job. At least Cole did, since he'd dealt with multiple Conduits in Empire City before coming to New Marais. Kuo had helped out with Bertrand, John and with Nix. Through her team work with Dr. Wolfe she was well informed about the nuts and bolts behind Conduits and her NSA agent training proved handy more than once. 

"Moya is a bad apple, I agree, but Cole..." Kuo was almost begging. 

Bad? More like rotten through the core, Cole thought but said nothing. 

"If we do this, we... we can lay the foundation of something bigger, something greater than us." She added. 

Cole looked at her, still not very convinced. 

"Besides, I honestly don't think she'll last that much longer. Not with a stressful job like at any rate." Kuo mused more to herself than to Cole. 

That made Cole chuckle a little, as he could see her point a little too clear himself. What should I do, Zeke? Cole asked himself this in the back of his mind. Thinking it over, the wheels inside Cole's head started turning out a plan. They had one Ace up their sleeve; the RFI and Dr. Wolfe's research. If push came to shove, if Moya started something like Bertrand's scenario – a new arms race with Conduits rather than nukes – Cole could have the RFI improved to such an extent that it would take out all the Conduits in the world with a single blow. Looking at Kuo while thinking about it it, it occurred to him that if this scenario ever saw the light of day, Kuo would die and so would he. That was hard to swallow. It was however, an emergency exit worth considering and preparing, if the alternative was World War III with Conduits on the front lines. 

"Tell you what, Kuo." Cole said, getting up from the sofa. Kuo was all ears. "We'll take this one step at the time. No need to rush and make hasty decisions. Let's see how things turn out with Zeke and take it from there, okay?" He suggested to her. Kuo sighed and shrugged her shoulders. 

"I guess you have a point. It's all very much to take in at once, I'll admit. Besides, Zeke's input might be useful." She said as it was a given that Zeke would pull through and be back on his feet in no time. 

Should probably get Sonya up to speed with this as well, Cole thought. With the sun still up, Cole and Kuo decided to go back to their little routine in helping the city as best they could, while thinking over Moya's offer. Cole went straight to the bank to check up on Sonya's progress. The bank director reported that Sonya had been a busy little bee, flying over the city, asking for blast shards and handing them over to the bank for safe keeping. Some of Laroche's boys had welded together a small lead case that she used to transport the shards and they'd even build some larger lead crates that were inside the vault. 

Pleased with Sonya's good progress and dedication to the task assigned to her, Cole was beginning to hope that she'd turn out to be okay and that his concerns were unfounded. 

"So where is she? Out in the field perhaps?" Cole asked. 

"She'd just handed over a couple of shards and was ready to take off again, when these men in suits asked her to come with her." The bank director explained. 

That was a bump in the road, which got Cole a little worried. She might take it the wrong way, being kept in the dark like this. That was something Moya could, or rather, would use to the fullest if given an opportunity. 

"Kuo? It's Cole. Those guys that were with Moya, you said they were Secret Service?" Cole wasted no time and asked Kuo for advice on how to proceed. 

All experience he had with government agencies were Moya, John and Kuo – two had turned out to be somewhere between a disaster and a catastrophe, while the third had so far been pretty okay. 

"Yeah, I found it odd since the U.S. Secret Service has two distinct areas of responsibility; Treasury roles and protective roles." Kuo replied, also worried that this could be an indicator for more trouble. 

Treasury was unlikely a reason for why they were with Moya. The national and global economy was a mess thanks to the sudden annihilation of Empire City, its port and the finical institutions that were housed there. A wild rampage down the East Coast of the US didn't really help much either. Protective reasons made more sense, given the state of the nation and Moya's plans for the immediate future. Still, it was only top people such as the President, past Presidents, Vice Presidents, presidential candidates and certain foreign embassies that were guarded by the Secret Service. Moya didn't fit the bill. 

Whatever the reason, it gave weight to the notion that Moya had someone very high up giving her a helping hand. Cole explained to Kuo that Sonya had been taken away by these guys. 

"Most likely just another round of questioning." Kuo assured Cole. "She might try something, but I find it unlikely. In your eyes, she's on thin eyes already and she needs us if she wants that agency of hers to become a reality." 

It was comforting to hear, but Cole would have to get to Sonya as soon as Moya cut her loose, just to make sure that any lies Moya had told her would not set root. That could cost them dearly later down the road. Teaming up with Kessler, conducting inhuman experiments, bombing of a major US city and loosing a freaking air craft carrier. With that kind of record, you'd figure that uncle Sam would lock her up, weld the doors shut and melt the key before sinking the remains into the Atlantic. Apparently not if your name is Moya Jones. How did she do it? Cole had no idea and in all honesty, he wasn't too keen on finding out either. Navigating through the minefield of political power was not his cup of tea, but obviously Moya was a master on that field. In that sense she could be a powerful ally, but also a terrible enemy. 

Hours turned to days, and the days turned to a full week, but still no word from Sonya. In the end, Kuo couldn't stand it and took contact with Moya before consulting with Cole. 

"I'd like to know why you're keeping Sonya Croft? She's committed any crimes, has she?" Kuo asked Moya coldly. 

"Agent-Kuo,-was-it?" Moya replied with a dull indifference. "Ms-Croft-is-doing-fine." She finally admitted since Kuo would not let it drop. 

"Will you release her?" Kuo demanded. 

"In-a-moment." Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a chopper coming in closer and eventually landing just outside. 

Following Moya, Kuo headed outside to see what the commotion was all about. There wasn't much special going on, if you'd seen one UH-60 Black Hawk, you'd pretty much seen them all as far as Kuo was concerned. What did it transport though? First load of much needed medical and food supplies? The side door slid open and she stood face to face with Zeke. 

"Hey there, beautiful!" He shouted to her over the loud engines with that sly smile of his. 

Kuo was moved to tears at the sight and gave him a good hug, as if to confirm that it was real. Turning back, Kuo noticed that Moya wasn't going to stick around and was already heading back indoors. 

"Come on, get in! Let's meet up with Cole!" Sonya called from the back of the helicopter. 

Kuo took Zeke's hand and boarded the helicopter. Getting flown rather doing your own flying was nice every now and then, especially if you were riding with friends you loved and trusted.


	7. Kick In The Teeth

Cole checked with the police once more, they still haven't seen anything to Kuo. It was rare for her to drop out on them like that. Her apartment was empty and searching over various places in town proved fruitless. Just what in the world had happened? Nothing serious, Cole hoped. It couldn't be Moya's doing, could it? 

"Don't do anything stupid Kuo, I might not be able to help you if you do." Cole mumbled to himself. 

Walking on street level for a change, Cole was on his way to the bank. With Moya around, Cole was worried that she might pull some stunt to get the blast shards. 

"Hey Cole, how's it hanging?" One of Laroche's boys stood guard outside the bank. 

"Still going strong." Cole said with a forced smile. 

A lot of this rode on his shoulders, so he had to make an effort to keep it together. In the middle of all this, there was some good news. The bank staff reported that people were now turning in blast shards on their own. Guess that Sonya must have made an impression, Cole thought to himself. That was one less problem to worry about. This did have a follow up problem though; what to do with all the blast shards? Cole had restored most of the strength and powers he'd lost when he fought the Beast in Empire City, so he strictly speaking didn't need any more. In fact he didn't want any more, fearing that if he kept getting stronger he'd end up like John in one form or another. 

"Melt them down perhaps?" Cole asked himself, standing in front of the lead crate inside the main bank vault. 

If Zeke was here, he'd have some idea of what to do. Maybe look up what people did with nuclear waste or something like that. 

"Cole!" Someone outside called his name, urging him to come out of the vault. 

Expecting another problem that needed to be added to the list, Cole sighed and reluctantly walked outside. Kuo and Sonya was waiting for him in the reception. 

"Where in the world have y..." He began, but Kuo raised her hand to make him calm down. 

"There's someone who'd like to meet you." She told him and stepped aside, bringing Zeke into view. For a moment, Cole just stood there, blinking as if doubting his own eyes. 

"What? I haven't lost that much weight." Zeke said with a laugh. 

"I thought you were a goner for sure." Cole said, struggling to hold back his tears while walking over to Zeke. 

"I'll admit it was a close call, but I figured you'd be pissed if I went ahead without you." Zeke said, giving his friend a good hug. 

The two were given a long moment, before Kuo cleared her throat rather audible. Zeke told them that Moya had been the first to talk to him when he came to. She'd brought him up to date on what was going on outside of New Marais and it was pretty bad. Martial Law all had been declared and the gloves were coming off. Several of the cities that John had laid to waste had become war zones, with Conduits acting as warlords using normal people as foot soldiers. For now the situation was contained, but that would not last. 

"So it boils down to two options; the military way of air strikes and essentially all out war." Zeke explained. "Or our and Moya's way; a small team move in and take out the Conduits." 

Remembering how things had gone with Empire City, Cole had no doubt that the military would move in with bombs, missiles and guns blazing. Not to mention that the all mighty US war machine had been given a serious dent in its reputation, while trying to deal with John's rampage. They'd jump at a chance to show the public that they still got it, and that they didn't need to be replaced with humans that had superpowers. 

"As I understood it, we're talking only a day or two before we have to give our answer. If we don't say anything, Moya will take that as a no and New Marais will be added to the military's list." Sonya supplied. 

This was a real kick in the teeth. Good news was that the so called plague could be treated, Zeke was an example of this. Moya was interested in getting her little agency started, so for now she was playing along. That was good news as well, except it could turn in horrible bad news at the drop of a hat. Cole was reluctant to just walk away from the mess that New Marais was in now, but if he didn't the military would just level the city. Another hard decision, huh Kessler? 

Cole looked up at his friends. "This is more than just me. What do you think is best?" He asked them. The three of them exchanged looks and glances, but said nothing for a while. 

"C'mon guys! We have to make up our minds on this, right now." Cole pressed them, though not nearly as hard as Kessler had pressed him. He wasn't sure if they could take it, it would just split them apart and that would be a disaster at this point. 

"I don't think we can trust Moya." Zeke said finally. Figures, Cole thought. Zeke had been skeptical to her from day 1 and he'd been proven right. 

Kuo fidgeted nervously back and forth. Torn between loyalty to friends and old ideals, huh? Must be hard, Cole thought to himself. At last she decided to speak up. 

"I don't know Moya like you guys do, and I can tell that she's bad news, but..." She started. "We have good cards on our hand and if we play them right, we can get the better of Moya." 

Is she thinking about Dr. Wolfe's research? The truth about the Beast? The door can swing both ways by playing those cards too early or too late. 

"Sonya, you're rather new to all this. Any thoughts you'd like to share?" Cole asked her. 

Given the subject, Sonya appearance was remarkably calm. Maybe she was just freaking out on the inside? 

"I think we should go. New Marais is much better off now than it was before. Bertrand, his militia and monsters are taken care of, right? Those ice men are also almost all gone. Your work here is for the most part done as far as I can tell." She replied with a sincere honesty that took Cole by surprise. 

She did have a point though. The police and Laroche's men can handle the rest, not to mention that help was on its way. If it wasn't Cole would make sure that it was. 

"Guess that settles it then. We team up with Moya tonight, so gather your stuff and say your goodbyes." Cole told them. 

Zeke didn't look to happy about it, but Cole assured him that they wouldn't be blindly dancing to her tune either way. He asked Zeke about what he thought about the remaining blast shards, but all he could suggest was for a Conduit to absorb them. That wasn't the answer Cole had hoped for, but it made most sense. 

"Thanks man, see you in a few hours." He told his friend. 

If there was one person he could trust with more power, it was Kuo. Law and order was the core of that woman, so in the end Cole was sure she'd do the right thing. He headed straight over to her apartment to give her the news. 

"Guess you're traveling light, huh? Got your Amp and you're good to go." Kuo smiled as she was going over her things. 

"Yeah, I'll just get some minor stuff, a change of clothes maybe." Cole replied. 

"Oh I do hope a change of clothes gets on your list, just saying." Kuo laughed. The mood was light and good, so it was as good time as any to bring some serious and potential bad news to the table. 

"Listen... ah, about those blast shards that Sonya dug up." Cole began. 

Kuo stopped briefly with what she was doing, before continuing. 

"What about them?" She asked. 

"I don't think we can just leave them behind, even if they're inside the bank." Cole said. 

Kuo's expression didn't change, she just kept packing different things, facing away from Cole. 

"It would be better if you absorbed them, getting stronger." He finally said it. 

Now he had to wait for the reply, whatever form and shape it may take. 

"Why do you think that?" Kuo finally asked. 

It was a bit unexpected. Cole was hoping for a straight yes or a straight no, but something like this caught him off guard. 

"We don't really know what we're going up against. These new Conduits that John activated, their powers, their strengths, their weaknesses." Cole tried to give it a logical and rational spin. 

"Prepare for the worst, while hoping for the best, huh?" Kuo said, closing her suitcase and clapping the locks. 

"Yeah, something along those lines." Cole admitted. 

Things went a little downhill from there. Kuo had a... mixed set of feelings regarding her powers. It was all very understandable considering how she got her powers, who gave her those powers and how they were later exploited. The last thing she needed was more of that luggage to carry around. Her current set of powers were already a heavy burden. 

"Why don't you do it? You've done it so far." She argued. 

Cole didn't want this to spin out of control and end up as a barking contest. So he figured good old honesty was his ticket out. 

"Because I'm afraid Kuo." He told her, and that was like a slap in Kuo's face. "I've been thinking that what if I keep going and get so strong that I loose it, that I end up like John?" 

A lot about the Conduit condition was unknown, the two real experts on it, Kessler and Dr. Wolfe, were dead. Well, technically speaking Kessler was still alive since he was Cole, but from a different time. 

"You don't know that!" Kuo protested firmly. 

"And I can't risk it either!" Cole shot back. 

Shit, it ended as a barking contest after all. Kuo seemed to realize the same thing and settled down, with a depressed look on her face. Cole explained the difference between blast shards and blast cores. The cores gave a Conduit new powers, or if the same Conduit was exposed to another Ray Sphere blast. Now the shards on the other hand, didn't do that. At least not to Cole. After he'd consumed a certain number, he was able to store more electrical energy in his body, to carry more ammunition so to speak. The number of shards needed to get to the next level always seemed to increase. First 3, then 5, then 10 shards and so on. Cole assumed that it would be the same for Kuo, though he had no way to say for certain. 

Kuo wasn't happy about it, in fact she hated the idea so much that the kitchen sink got busted because the room temperature dropped too much, too fast. 

"I didn't want this Cole!" She cried to him. 

"Neither did I..." He told her as calmly as he could. "Still, here we are, playing the cards that we've been given." Kuo glared at him so hard that for a second he was sure she'd attack. 

"This isn't some game, Cole!" She shouted. 

Cole raised his hands, as if to tell Kuo to calm down, it was okay. "If you don't want to, you don't have to. I'll... think of something. Don't worry about it, okay?" 

That didn't go very well, Cole had to admit. Even so, the building was still standing even if the plumbing got busted because of Kuo's tantrum. All in all, it could have been much worse. What now? Run the same idea by Sonya? Just leave the shards in the vault? Have Laroche dig them down in the swamp? Wait, won't the radiation cause some sort of weird animal mutation, or is that just in the movies? Hand them over to Moya...? This didn't get Cole anywhere. It wasn't a loose end he was willing to leave behind dangling freely by itself. Cole headed over to the bank and think things over one last time before making a decision. 

"Doing a late night inspection, Cole?" The guard outside the bank asked. Cole mentioned that he'd leave town soon before heading inside. No point in hiding it now, the sun had already set. Laroche would break the news first thing in the morning, but Cole suspected that the rumors were already buzzing. Zeke had helped Laroche put together a speech that covered the most likely questions. Hopefully people would be content with the answers given and not start something nasty. 

"What about you guys, huh?" Cole asked, looking at the lead crate. 

It was tempting to just take the shards for himself, but how would that make him look after that speech he'd given Kuo? Guess that bridge has already been burned down, huh? 

"Hey coach, what are you brooding over?" Kuo asked from the vault door. 

"Kuo... yeah, ah... I'll get a hold of the cops and they'll..." He started, facing Kuo but still glancing over his shoulder to look at the crate. 

"I'll do it." Kuo said suddenly. For a moment Cole was at a loss for words. "You... you were right, you had a good point." She started out, sounding embarrassed. 

"Besides, you're still going to coach me, right?" Kuo asked, hopefully. 

"Yeah, I've got your back." Cole assured her. "Let's get to work, we've got 65 shards to go through."


	8. All Over Again

So in the middle of the night, Cole, Kuo, Zeke and Sonya were extracted from New Marais by boat. The commissioner of the police along with Laroche saw them off. They both seem to understand why Cole & Co had to go, but it was clear that they were worried what might happen to the town in Cole's absence. After about an hour or so, they arrived at their destination; the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. 

"Can't believe that uncle Sam would give another one of these to Moya." Zeke commented once they were on board. 

"Who said that she's the one running the show?" Kuo whispered back. "This ship is most likely commanded by Rear Admiral Philip S. Davidson, not Moya." 

The four of them were ushered to the admiral's office and Cole agreed to let Kuo do most of the talking, since she was more government material than any of the others combined. This was not the time or place to throw some lip and Cole steeled himself for some prejudice comments with border lining racist undertones. Just don't let it get to you, Cole told himself over and over again. Thankfully, the admiral proved to be a reasonable and understanding man. He was discreet about it, but there were faint hints that he wasn't too happy about Moya either. A rough plan was presented to the group. 

They'd set course north right away get get busy securing the cities closest to Washington D.C. The president and other important government personnel had long been evacuated to a secure location. Most likely a nuclear fallout shelter, Cole thought to himself. He was in no hurry to meet the president though, Cole had bigger fish to catch. Once those cities had been secured from Conduits, they'd move to their next target. A prioritized list would be ready by then. So far, things were going smoothly. The military were quick and efficient, no dabbling about on this ship. 

The next part was a bit hard to swallow, as the admiral asked for detailed descriptions of their individual powers, in order to come up with the best strategies and tactics. They all fell silent and it was only after a small nudge from Cole's side that Sonya spoke up. He figured that she'd be least useful to the military, so she'd work as an icebreaker. Cole was the real price, so he'd wait as long as he could. 

"So you can fly and that's it?" The admiral asked, not sounding disappointed at all. Rather a genuine interest and fascination could be seen on his face. 

Sonya explained her ability as best as she could, but failed to give specifics in terms of maximum height, speed, range and the like. 

"Tell you what Ms Croft. We better get some solid answers to those questions. I suggest we start tomorrow morning to collect some data." The admiral said. 

"But sir... we're at sea?" Sonya pointed out a little nervously. 

"True, but we also got a lot of planes and helicopters at our disposal." The admiral assured her. 

That didn't seem to be very comforting for Sonya, but she didn't press the issue. Next up was Kuo. Her NSA agent persona kicked in and she gave clear, sharp answers to all of the admirals questions. Even if the answer was nothing more than "Sorry sir, I don't know." Kuo didn't waver and was straight as an arrow. Cole was impressed to say the least. The admiral also appeared to be pleased with Kuo's professional take on the questioning. 

"And you figured out these powers on your own? Through trial and error? Even learning how to best utilize them? I wish you were on my crew, agent Kuo." The admiral was full of praise. 

"Yes and no, sir." Kuo replied. 

She went in detail that for the first few hours she'd try things out, being encourage by Zeke to do so. However, Kuo was not shy to admit her limitations and gave Cole much credit for what she could do today. 

"In short Mr MacGrath allowed me to reach as much of my potential as possible." She concluded, to which the admiral actually gave her a short applause. 

"Straight and honest, even if it means putting yourself in a lesser bright light. I like that!" He smiled at Kuo before turning his attention to Zeke. 

Zeke didn't put on any act and right of the bat he put the cards on the table. He wasn't a Conduit, but he'd been with Cole from the start. Explaining how he'd been the supporter, doing little things that if left unattended, would be a distraction to Cole, making him loose focus on the bigger and important things. Kuo stepped in and vouched for Zeke, giving concrete examples of how Zeke, despite being without Conduit powers, had helped them with either information or pointing out things they might otherwise have missed. With the military added to the team, Zeke's role might become excessive, but Cole couldn't think of fighting this fight without him. 

The admiral didn't seem to be willing to press that issue right now. Instead he turned his focus on the crown jewel; Cole MacGrath. Of all the Conduits, he was the first, the original, the strongest and the most experienced. 

"I've gone over the audio logs of a NSA agent, John Smith." The admiral began. "Do you know him?" He asked Cole. 

"Yes sir, we talked during the Empire City incident and even worked together to secure the Ray Sphere." Cole answered, figuring he better stick to the truth for as long as he could. 

He just hoped that the admiral wouldn't ask questions that would force him to lie. Admiral Davidson stuck to the same questions he'd given Sonya and Kuo, more details about Cole's powers. Cole was forthcoming and answered the questions the admiral came with as best he could. He also mentioned that some of his powers were compatible with Kuo's, but left out that he'd gotten some of her powers thanks to Bertrand's Power Transfer Device. Cole felt that it was a little too early to give that kind of info for free. So far the admiral had given a solid first impression, but so had Moya back in the day. He'd rather wait a while and see if the admiral was a real ally or just another power hungry government opportunist. The Power Transfer Device had been destroyed and as far as Cole knew, there were no more blast cores left. Unless John had made some when he turned those cities into smoldering craters. 

At this point the admiral told them that he'd heard enough for today and had them taken to their quarters. He insisted that they all get a good nights sleep, for it would be an early day tomorrow with more questions and practical demonstrations of their powers. Cole and Zeke shared one room, while Kuo and Sonya shared another. 

"So what's your take on the admiral, Cole?" Zeke asked once they'd settled down in their room. 

"I don't know man. He seems legit and all, but..." He left it hanging. 

"Yeah, he's got that military vibe going on. Lots of medals, spotless uniform, the works." Zeke agreed. 

Of course he has a military vibe, the man is an admiral for crying out loud. They could easily be double crossed. Far out at sea, Cole couldn't do too much. Knock him overboard and he was dead. Same with Kuo, except she'd just freeze inside a small self made iceberg. Cole was unsure if she'd be able to survive something like that, but he had heard that there were some frogs that could survive inside a chunk of ice. No breath, no pulse, no heartbeat, nothing. But thaw it up and it wakes up and goes about its business as if nothing had happened. Then again, Kuo could freeze people and not fatally injure them. If she could do that to normal people, you'd expect her to survive herself. 

What about Sonya? She'd take off, but with all the guns, missiles, targeting systems, jets and helicopters on this ship, she'd be hard pressed to get away alive. Yeah, they were sleeping inside the jaws of the lion now. True that Cole had taken out an air craft carrier before, but that thing was docked and it was not by Cole's effort alone. David and those weird super soldiers that Moya had cooked up had a say in it too. No, this time it was different. Better play it cool until they get solid land on their feet. 

"I just need a hammer. Please, I'm okay, it's no big deal!" Cole could hear Kuo talking to someone outside their room. 

Opening the door a little to take a peek, Cole saw Kuo talking to a very upset crew member. 

"What's the problem?" He asked, opening the door wider. 

"Oh Cole. It's nothing, just something stupid. Sorry if I woke you." Kuo said, hiding her hands behind her back. 

"Is that a bucket on your hand?" He asked, barely holding back a laugh. 

Embarrassed, Kuo held up her left hand, which was inside a bucket. 

"By accident, I put my hand into a bucket of water, causing it to freeze and now it's stuck." She sighed. 

The crew member on the other hand wanted to take her to the infirmary right away, worried about frost damage and what not. Cole couldn't help but laugh and assured the crew member that this was going to work out just fine. Rather than a hammer, he suggested that Kuo stopped by the kitchen and borrowed their stove to melt the ice. Still embarrassed, Kuo followed the crew member to the kitchen while Cole went back to his room. 

"What was that all about?" Zeke asked. 

"Not much, just some practical issues with Kuo's powers." Cole brushed it off as a minor, but amusing thing. The two sat down on each bed, facing each other. 

"We're going at it again, huh?" Zeke said more to himself than to Cole. 

"Yeah, hey third time's the charm. This time we got some back-up." Cole pointed out. 

Ah, who was he kidding? He knew what Zeke meant. It would be Empire City all over again. A handful of Conduits, fighting over scraps and smoldering ruins, with innocent people getting caught and used in the cross fire. Who'd be waiting? Another Sasha? Another Alden? Another Bertrand? The only comfort he'd find was that it wouldn't be another John. 

"Say, I've been wondering about something. What happened to Nix?" Zeke asked, bring Cole out of his troubled thoughts. 

"She... she's dead Zeke. I killed her at Fort Philippe." Cole told him, which left Zeke without words for a long time. 

"Why?" He finally asked Cole. 

"Nix... she was going to kill Sonya and she attacked Kuo too. I tried to talk to her, stop her, but she left me no choice Zeke." 

The mood and atmosphere sank to new depths. Nix had been different from the other Conduits, she'd been one of them. True, they didn't always see eye to eye, but she was still miles away from Sasha, Alden, Kessler or the rest of the lot. A metallic knock on their door startled the living shit out of both Cole and Zeke, making them jolt with surprise. Cole cleared his throat and went to open the door. Kuo stood there, still stuck to the bucket and in near tears. 

"It won't melt!" She cried. Now that Cole thought about it, Kuo's powers were probably freezing the water faster than the stove could melt it. 

"Zeke, come over here. We've got a problem for you." Cole called over his shoulder with a smirk, the depressive mood was thawing away. Zeke stepped up and had a look at the bucket, the ice and Kuo's hand. 

"Maybe we could use a blowtorch?" He mused, shifting the bucket around to look at it from different angles. 

"Are you crazy? You could cut her wrist of!" Cole objected. 

"Just take of the larger chunks, then melt off the rest." Zeke said defensively. 

"Maybe a hammer is the best choice after all?" Cole asked. 

"No can do brother, you'd crush her hand if you did that." Zeke protested. 

"JUST GET IT OFF!" Kuo screamed. 

"Not exactly the Fantastic Four, are you guys?" The same crew member that was with Kuo the first time commented dryly.


	9. Too Afraid To Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rather than making up fictional cities based on/inspired by real life cities (like Empire City and New Marais), I've decided to go with real life cities. It makes it easier for me to get things right as I can look things up (Wikipedia 4 teh w!n!) rather than making them up. The focus of this story is the characters, rather than the scenery around them.

The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower made good speed up along the East Coast, but it was clear that this was no pleasure cruise. The admiral wasted no time learning as much as he could about what Cole, Kuo and Sonya were capable of. They gave demonstration of nearly all their powers and how they'd been utilizing them thus far. The admiral's crew along with some people from DARPA jotted down notes and documented every second of it. Zeke wasn't happy about it, but Cole pointed out that team work was essential and that they weren't shown all their cards in one go. 

Certain powers were mentioned and described as best they could, but not demonstrated due to their destructive nature. On the third day a certain pattern of tactics and strategies started to form. It was strange mix of what Cole and Kuo and been doing since the latter got her powers, and what the admiral had at his disposal. Admiral Davidson also had a running dialogue with the Pentagon for more suggestions of how to best use Cole and Kuo's potential. It was decided that Sonya would primary act as a scout, so she was trained in flying high and fast. She was also given the ABC of various camera, goggles and binocular equipment. 

Cole would, rather unsurprisingly, be the team leader and Kuo would be his partner. Zeke was told to stay on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and coordinate the info from Sonya with Cole and Kuo. The admiral had at least a dozen crew members that could do the same thing, but he realized that if he split up the group and discarded one of them, they'd loose the dynamic that had kept them alive so far. It was a valid compromise that left both sides equally unhappy. Neither Cole nor Kuo would be given any weapons training, aside from basic disarmament moves. Cole's electrical powers would make the guns explode in his hands and Kuo's cryokinesis made the moving parts of the guns freeze together, rendering them useless. 

From sunrise to sunset, the admiral pushed them hard and then some. They knew he had the best intentions in mind. The admiral didn't want to loose them and failure was not an option at this point. When they finally were left off the hook, they were dead tired all four of them. Zeke had a mountain of homework to do every night, Cole was literary drained, Sonya out of breath and Kuo complained that it felt like she was on fire. 

"So... how's it going with Kuo?" Zeke asked on the fifth night. 

"What do you mean Zeke?" Cole asked back, not bothering to move an inch from his bed. 

"Well, I just noticed that you two have a very good tone. You guys look good together, that's all." Zeke pointed out, flipping the pages on yet another manual. 

Yeah, they got along just fine, Cole thought. Kuo had been the first, the first like Cole. Sure, there was Sasha and that crazy gang from Empire City, but Kuo was different. She'd been normal first, then changed. Thankfully that didn't turn her into a crazy loon. Okay, she'd crack up every now and then, but Cole took that as proof of her humanity and that was not a bad thing, not a bad thing at all. He could relate to her, and she to him. Aside from Zeke, Cole relied on Kuo the most. Zeke was still Zeke, Cole's link to the past and to his humanity, but for the parts that Zeke couldn't understand because he wasn't a Conduit, there was Kuo. Thank whoever or whatever is in charge of such things for that, Cole thought to himself before falling asleep. 

At the breakfast table the next morning, Kuo started the idle chatter with a strange question. 

"Who's Sub Zero?" Cole and Zeke looked at each other, quite unsure of how to respond. They both looked over to Sonya for help, but she was too busy cooling down her morning coffee to be of any help. 

"That's... uhm... come on man, help me out here." Zeke began, snapping his fingers in front of Cole's face. 

"I think it's a video game character." Cole replied, pushing Zeke's hand out of his face. 

Kuo gave the two of them a suspicious frown. She isn't buying it, Zeke's eyes told Cole. 

"So, is this character... what?" Kuo pressed them for more information, NSA style. 

"He's one of the fighters in the Mortal Kombat series. He uses ice to beat the living hell out of his enemies." Sonya supplied before taking a loud slurp from her coffee. 

Well, that's one way to put it; straight up and brutally honest. 

"Oh really? I was wondering why some of the crew gave me that nickname." Kuo mumbled to herself as she was about to drink her coffee, before realizing she'd frozen it solid by holding on the cup rather than the handle. 

The conversation naturally went into nicknames that would fit them, based on their powers. Sparky, frostbite, airbus, ice cube, lightning, thunderstorm, polar bear, concord, the list went on and on. It was a light topic with plenty of room for jokes and laughter. After breakfast, Cole and Kuo would go through training on searching and clearing buildings. Some basic walls were put up in a hanger below deck, with cardboard bad guys popping around corners at random. Yeah, Zeke hadn't lost his touch, not in the slightest. For a change it was Kuo that was the instructor and Cole the student. It was unusual for Kuo to point with just her hands, as she'd been trained to do this with a gun. 

Even so, it didn't take long before they both got into it and killed a whole pile worth of cardboard bad guys. They upped the scale by having Cole outside in a sniper position, covering Kuo as she went inside. Towards lunch they'd made some good progress, learned new things and found better ways to coordinate their powers. Kuo was discussing with their training instructor for the possibility to use crew members as opponents, when a crew member informed Cole that the admiral wanted to speak with him in private. Smelling trouble, he agreed after giving Kuo the heads up. Cole followed the crew member to the admiral's office, since he still wasn't familiar with the layout of this floating armed city. 

Once inside the admiral's office, it became clear that Cole's hunch regarding trouble was right. Moya had come aboard. "Admiral." Cole greeted with a polite, if short nod. 

"I'll get straight to the point, Mr MacGrath." The admiral said, leaning back in his chair. "Agent Jones here have told me of her plans for you and agent Kuo. Now, I've come to an agreement with agent Jones that we'll see how well you guys preform on the first few cities and take it from there." 

Cole said nothing for the moment. It sounded like a deal he could live with. He just wanted a few details confirmed first. 

"So if we do good?" He asked the admiral. 

"Then you're all to be transferred to agent Jones new agency." The admiral replied straight away. 

"And if we screw up?" Cole asked, steeling himself for the answer. 

"Then... you're either dead or in jail." Another no pressure situation, wonderful, Cole thought to himself. 

At the end of that day's training sessions, Zeke and Cole headed out on the top deck for a change of scenery and some fresh air. Cole'd already filled Zeke, Kuo and Sonya about the news he got from the admiral earlier. 

"I figured it was only a matter of time, before that cockroach of a woman would show up." Zeke said, referring to Moya. 

Cole nodded, smiling over Zeke's choice of words. The two friends kept on walking, not saying anything, just enjoying each others company. 

"But you know... I'm sure Kuo'd like to take a night stroll like this. I mean, she's a woman after all." Zeke said after a while. 

Sure, sure, Cole thought. She can take a walk on her own or with Zeke or with Sonya, plenty of options. 

"Kuo's a big girl. She can figure that out herself." Cole commented. That made Zeke stop in his tracks. 

"Ah come on man, you know what I'm getting at, right?" He told Cole. 

Yeah, Cole could see it. Zeke just meant good, trying to hook Cole and Kuo together, but... there was so much right now. There was the death of Trish. According to Kessler, the two of them married and got some kids. Two daughters, was it? It was still hard to come to terms with, that another you went to such extremes for the greater good that he'd kill off the love of his life, his unborn children. What kind of agony did Kessler go through when loosing Trish and their little girls to the Beast? Another issue that's been bothering Cole, was one of the audio logs from New Marais. When making contact with Cole, Kuo seriously considered going for the seductive approach. The same log mentioned that she dropped the idea after realizing that Cole still hadn't come full circle as far as Trish's death went. This told Cole a lot about Kuo; she's not afraid to stoop to such low levels if needed, but at the same time she can tell if her approach is likely to succeed or not and act accordingly. There were other factors playing in as well. Kuo was a former NSA agent, so if push came to shove, Cole could not say for sure if she'd stick with them or the government. 

As far as Cole could tell, Kuo appeared to lean her loyalty to the group rather than the government. Evidence of this is when Kuo along with John decided to act on their own when investigating the First Sons. Aside from Cole, Nix and Sonya, Kuo had no other Conduits to turn to, no one else that would understand her the way they did. Nix was dead and even if she'd been alive, Nix and Kuo never saw eye to eye, so they'd end up as bitter enemies rather than good friends. While Sonya was a good and levelheaded woman, she'd not been through what Kuo had and not carried the burden and responsibility that came with countering the Beast. 

If Dr. Wolfe had been alive, she could turn to him for support and understanding, but he's dead and with him Kuo lost a father figure and emotional support. 

"Sorry man, but I..." Cole started to tell Zeke, but couldn't bring himself to get the words out of his throat. 

"Too afraid to love?" Zeke asked, sounding serious. 

Yes and no, Cole wanted to love someone and be loved back. The time he'd with Trish were some of the best years of his life, no question about it. He'd go through Hell and high water to get those days back, but whenever that thought crossed his mind, Kessler's face and voice blew those notions away in a flash. 

"Zeke, remember what I told you about Kessler?" Cole asked his old friend. Of course he remembered, Cole thought. Stupid question. 

"Yeah, that's some crazy shit right there, brother." Zeke answered before he continued that he felt Cole shouldn't be bound by that anymore. The Beast is dead after all, they'd won. No need to be bound and tied by the words of a dead man, at least not when you'd kept your part of the bargain. Cole wished he could agree and tell Zeke how right he was, but it was like a large rock in his stomach telling him he'd jump the gun if he gave in now. Yeah, the Beast is dead, but his legacy lives. 

"Maybe Zeke, we'll see where this takes us. Once this Conduit mess is cleaned up and we're still sane and in one piece..." Cole replied. 

The next day was D-day. They'd arrived at their destination; Petersburg, Virginia. Satellite pictures showed a mess eerily similar to Empire City except for multiple Ray Sphere like craters. They'd arrive by boat from the Appomattox River and make their way through the city. Getting an overview of what the situation was like and securing smaller zones where supplies could be dropped. Identifying and locating the Conduits were a high priority, but they were not to engage them until they got a clear idea of what the Conduits were capable of. Night photo's taken from the International Space Station showed that the city still had some electricity, allowing Cole to refuel if needed. 

Sonya was geared up with Kevlar and various radio and camera equipment. She'd go ahead of the boat that Kuo and Cole'd take and let them know that the coast was clear. Zeke stayed behind on the Ike, as they'd started to call the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, keeping in touch with Sonya, Cole and Kuo over radio. Admiral Davidson and his crew would be ready to provide support if needed, with Moya eagerly observing on the sideline. They all had 3 days worth of emergency rations and a GPS emitter surgically implanted into their right shoulder. Prepped and good to go, Cole and Kuo boarded the boat and watched Sonya take off and fly straight towards the mouth of the Appomattox River. 

"Ready to save a city?" Cole called over his shoulder, Kuo was sitting in the back, steering the boat. 

"As ready as I'll ever be I guess." Kuo wasn't really bubbling over with confidence. 

It'll be alright, we'll pull this off, Cole told himself. Working under Moya would suck, but it was better than being dead or in jail. Frankly he'd rather work under admiral Davidson, but that's not how things turned out. For now, they'd just have to clean up Petersburg and take it from there.


	10. Getting Away With Murder

At admiral Davidson's insistence, Cole and Kuo started slow. There was no kick in the doors and shoot anything that moves policy. They'd save that for when they had a confirmed target and sure that no innocent bystander would be caught in the crossfire. Sporting civilian attire, Kuo and Cole blended in with the crowd, or what was left of it. Out of the 32,000 or something residents, a meager 1500 were still alive. The Beasts havoc had taken a clear toll on the population and now the plague was cleaning up the leftovers. 

It didn't take long before they got an idea of what was going on. True to the Empire City scenario, the city had gone down the drain. Two Conduits; Rose and Albert, were fighting over food, water, territory and blast shards. From what they could tell, Rose appeared to be a Sasha-like Conduit. She used some sort of illness to drain people and use it to heal herself. Albert was more like an Alden type, but he wasn't using telekinesis. Instead Albert used wind to move things around, creating miniature tornadoes at the snap of his fingers. 

Cole and Kuo sure had their work cut out for them. If things had been like this for about a month, Cole was doubtful that they'd change just by talking it over. It was still worth a try, but Cole wasn't expecting much and was already thinking of what they could do for the suffering population. Figuring they'd start with the worst, Kuo and Cole headed over to where Rose usually hung out. According to Sonya, Rose had fortified her position in the city hospital. Cole remembered how the Empire City hospital looked like after the blast, both on the outside and inside. Petersburg hospital was no better, in fact it was much worse off. The whole building screamed sickness and death. 

"Okay, should I ring the bell or do you want to?" Cole asked Kuo as they stood a block away, looking at the battered hospital. 

"Let's ask one of her thugs to introduce us." Kuo sighed, apparently just want to get this over with. 

Asking one of the guards to let them in wasn't easy, but Kuo managed to get a break by promising blast shards. 

"We don't have any." Cole pointed out to her with a whisper as they were lead into the hospital. 

That didn't seem to bother Kuo too much. Rose didn't have Sasha's tar, instead she had this thick and disgusting smog that she seemed to create by simply exhaling. Its stench was a repulsive mix of dead fish and open sewers. 

"Give me the rocks and get out of my face." Rose told them arrogantly as she sat on a worn and damaged hospital bed. 

"Couldn't we stay a while and chat?" Cole suggested carefully, struggling to keep a straight face because of the smell. 

Rose gave a quick nod to one of her goons, who smashed the rear end of his shotgun into Cole's guts. It brought Cole to his knees, vomiting up his breakfast. That got Rose's attention. Sliding off the bed, she walked over to Cole as if she was on a catwalk in Paris. Kuo was right by Cole's side, kneeling down and rubbing over his back. 

"You're rather well fed, aren't you?" Rose smirked. "And what interesting little toys you have!" She giggled loudly, snatching Cole's Amp. 

Rose walked around the room, swinging the Amp around like a baseball bat as if she was testing it out. 

"Is THIS how you use it?" She laughed, hitting Cole smack in the forehead. 

"Stop it!" Kuo cried, putting herself between Rose and Cole. The two women locked on each other in a stare down. 

"No rocks, huh? Who let them in?" Rose sighed with disappointment. The guard that had let them in nervously raised his hand. 

"Shepard was it? No matter. Take out the trash!" Rose commanded, pointing a finger at Shepard. 

Three other guards jumped him, stripped him of his guns and gave him a solid beating. After a few rounds of that, they lifted him up and walked towards the window. 

"Wait a minute, you can't be serious! We're on the 7th floor!" Kuo protested. 

Rose raised her hand, making her goons stop. 

"She's got a point boys, take him to the roof." She told her goons, whom complied. 

Cole managed to get back on his feet, his forehead bleeding from the hit Rose had given him. 

"Listen! I'm sorry okay, sorry we got here without the rocks, but you're going to kill him and not us?" He told Rose. 

She thought it over for a moment and then just nodded with a simple smile. 

"Sonya, do you read? Land and unload as much gear as you can, I need you to pick up a man they're going to throw off the hospital roof." Cole said into his radio. 

Kuo gave Cole some support as he was staggering the moment he started to walk. 

"Need to get my Amp back..." He groaned. 

The two of them followed after Rose and the small parade that was tailing her. Climbing the stairs was an effort, but Cole sucked up the pain and pressed on. Having Kuo by his side made it somehow bearable. 

"We can't take her head on inside. The smog thing she creates, it weakens us. If we can get her outside and try to take her out from afar, she'd be an easy match." Kuo whispered. 

Cole had to agree, but right now he was in no condition to fight even if he got Rose at a distance. Finally they got on the roof and unlike in the movies, where the bad guy holds a 45 minutes long speech about how great his master plan is, they went straight to the main event. In the blink of an eye, Shepard was thrown over the edge of the roof, to the sound of a cheering mob. 

The mob did fall silent when the realized that Sonya had caught Shepard in mid air and gently lowered him to the ground. Guess Sonya didn't have the strength to take a grown man and fly him away, at least not yet. Not a major victory, but at least the guy wasn't killed. In the baffled confusion that followed, Kuo saw her chance to teleport over right next to Rose, smacking her elbow in the side of her face and snatching the Amp from her hand. It happened so fast that by the time her goons had spun on their heels and pointed their guns in Cole's direction, Kuo was already back by his side, handing over the Amp. 

Rose was furious, twice in a few seconds she'd been had and humiliated in front of her followers. Expecting a fire fight, Cole brought up a Frost Shield before starting to take a few steps back. 

"KILL 'EM!" Rose shrieked at the top of her lunges. 

True to their master, the goons opened fire to no effect thanks to Cole's Frost Shield. It was however too small to cover two people. 

"Kuo, get out of here! I'll be right behind you." Cole shouted, noticing in the corner of his eye that some goons were fishing out grenades from their pockets. 

With an audible fizzle sound, Kuo was gone and Cole fired off an Alpha Blast to stun his enemies long enough to make an escape with Lightning Tether to a nearby building. After getting some comfortable distance between them and Rose, the three met up on a rooftop after been given directions by Zeke. 

"I don't know if that smog is like Sasha's mind-controlling tar or if she's keeping her goons together with fear of being killed." Cole reported in to Zeke, admiral Davidson and Moya. 

Kuo confirmed that it had a strength draining effect on them, but it didn't seem to have any effect on their powers. Zeke was worried that Rose could spew out the smog to drain bystanders for strength, then use it to become like the Hulk, ridiculously strong and near impossible to actually hurt. It was weird how they were using super hero comics for reference when discussing Conduit powers, but that was the reality that they found themselves in. 

"We still have to get some more intel on this Albert character. According to the residents, they've been at each others throats pretty much since day one." Kuo supplied, giving advice on their next course of action. 

Moya was interested in Albert's apparent ability to manipulate wind. She argued that he could be a useful ally, to disperse Rose's smog in order to make it less concentrated and thus, in theory less effective. If they both turned to be unstable, Moya advised that Cole and Kuo would play the two up against each other, so they'd destroy or at the very least weaken each other. Admiral Davidson was against that plan from the start. He argued that Rose and Albert had fought with each other for a good month and had reached a stalemate rather than mutual weakening one another, let alone destroying the opponent. 

"What about the Rayacite?" Sonya asked. 

That was another issue that they'd forgotten in the middle of all the stuff that had happened. One of the main things that Rose and Albert had fought over was Rayacite, or rocks as Rose called them. It was safe to say that they both knew what they did and it was unknown how many they gotten their hands on. Kuo suggested that they'd take a different approach with Albert. Rather than promising Rayacite, they'd heal and help people inside Albert's turf. 

"Hearts and minds, huh?" Cole replied. 

Kuo nodded with a serious expression on her face. It had worked with Laroche, even if it didn't go entirely as planned. 

"That Rose bitch isn't getting away with murder." Kuo sneered. 

Something told Cole that Rose was rubbing Kuo even worse than Nix had done. It was rare for Kuo to loose her cool, no pun intended. The gang agreed to get to work right away, taking shifts on guarding against Rose's thugs and helping Albert's men. Throughout the following night, Cole healed everyone he could. Many were beyond his help because of the radiation sickness, but he did what he could nevertheless. Sonya's warm personality and people skills came into good use, not to mention that she was excellent with kids. Just the sound of children laughter went a long way in raising people's spirits. Kuo did some discreet fishing around to get more information on Albert's character, but came up short. It could mean that Albert was just as bad as Rose and people didn't want to talk out of fear for the consequences. Or it could mean that Albert was a good guy, but people were skeptical to outsiders because of Rose and would not risk exposing their protector to danger. 

It wasn't until late in the afternoon the next day that there was hints of a rumor about Albert being curious of the recent events. Finally getting their break, Cole and the gang was allowed to meet with Albert. Kuo reported the good news back to the Ike and managed to get shipments of food, water and antibiotics shipped to their location, as proof that they were serious about helping out. Sonya decided to stay behind once the supplies arrived, getting things organized and distribute the aid. One of the senior members of the camp guided Cole and Kuo to where Albert stayed. 

From the main streets, to side streets and residential areas – until they reached their destination. As far as Cole could tell it was something akin to a school and it was, all things considered, in very good shape. Kuo pointed out that because of all the toys outside, this was most likely a kindergarten. A strange place to settle down, but perhaps it was chosen because of its close proximity to the houses and that it was in relatively good shape? Cole could even sense electricity from the neighborhood. 

"Come right this way." The senior camp member said with a sore voice, limping away on his crutches. 

The inside of the kindergarten was much like the outside, worn and dirty, but more than decent for a shelter. 

"Please wait here, I'll let Albert know you're here." The senior camp member told them. 

Kuo and Cole glanced at each other before looking around more closely. 

"You suspect a trap?" Cole asked. 

Kuo disagreed, while not ruling out the possibility completely she found it hard to believe. Albert seemed to be the real deal, caring for those around him and protecting them. Cole nodded his agreement. This might not be so bad after all. Once Rose is taken care of, maybe Albert will join in and admiral Davidson can do his logistics stuff, this city might have a chance, Cole thought. 

Who Albert really was, wasn't a truth that neither Cole or Kuo was prepared to face. It was remote, it at all, present in their minds. Albert wasn't some young, strong, knight in shining armor. He wasn't even a old, crooked and kind grandfather. Albert was a kid, nothing more than 5-6 years old. His eyes were all milky white and if being blind wasn't enough, both his legs appeared to have been crudely amputated just under the knees. Even if he was stuck to a wheelchair, Albert sat on it as if it was his throne. Kuo let out a small gasp, folding her hands over her mouth, before closing her eyes and turning away from the tragic fate the young boy represented.


	11. All Apologies

The old senior camp member did the presentations, as if he was introducing distant relatives to his grandchild. 

"Hello uncle Cole, aunt Lucy. I'm Albert, it's a pleasure to meet you." He greeted the two, giving them a polite little nod with his head. 

Cole and Kuo exchanged looks. Aunt and uncle? Well, given the circumstances, it wasn't unexpected that a kid like Albert would get a dent or two in his mind. Cole didn't know where to start and he kept on wishing that Sonya would come flying in through a window. The silence dragged on and Cole found himself remembering Alden. He'd been a little kid, born and raised to take over the First Sons, and he most like would have, if it weren't for Kessler. Kessler had kicked in the doors, taken over the show and thrown little Alden out on the streets. Why he wasn't sure, since Alden was a Conduit he might be of some use to Kessler, as an experimental subject for some Ray Sphere prototype or whatever. No point in dwelling on what your alternative future self did in the past, Cole thought to himself and tried to find ways to approach the ugly and tragic truth in front of him. 

Albert wasn't really taken aback by the silent minutes that ticked by, he just sat there calm as a winter still lake. 

"I'm very happy that you decided to visit, uncle Cole and you too aunt Lucy. And, and you're helping people, right?" Albert beamed a large smile as he spoke. 

Was it a real smile or just something Albert did to cope with the Hell he'd found himself in? Had he gone insane? Could he, would he snap and go berserk if Cole or Kuo didn't play along with is act as uncle and aunt? Cole wasn't too keen on finding out. He wasn't feeling like getting into a fight, with a kid like Albert. Insane or sane, Cole decided to tag along even if it was an act. He couldn't stomach anything less. Struggling to find a starting point, Cole sat down flat on the floor and just started with some basic stuff; how was it going, were there anything he or aunt Lucy could help him with, was Albert himself doing okay and so on. Cole felt he was walking through a minefield and that he had a thousand needles loaded with poison poking every inch of his skin. Albert did remain remarkably calm and answered each question with a smile. Things were bad, but it could have been worse and Albert was doing his best to make it better. He appreciated Cole's offer for help and would take him up on his offer. Regarding himself, Albert said that collecting rocks had helped him getting over the worst part, but he was missing his mother badly. 

Suspecting that Albert's mother might have been killed when John first came to town, Cole didn't press the issue. Carefully, Cole asked what Albert knew about Rose. 

"She's a bad lady!" Albert pouted and explained that Rose was bullying people to forget her own misery. 

"Hurting people just to make yourself feel a little better for a fleeting minute is just wrong!" Albert seemed very firm in his belief. 

Afraid that any more might upset Albert unnecessary, Kuo gave Cole a nudge, suggesting they'd call it a day. Cole was curious to know what gave this little kid the conviction to do all this, stand up against Rose and her thugs, protect ordinary people and shelter them, but let the question drop. Once they were outside and had walked for a few blocks, Kuo squatted down and started crying. Cole thought he'd seen it all, but Albert had just taken it to a whole other level. He squatted down next to Kuo and embraced her. 

"Sshhh, sshhh, it's going to be okay." He whispered in her ear as he gently rubbed her shoulder and rocked her slowly back and forth, as if putting a child to sleep. 

Kuo calmed down a little, still sniffing her ice blue eyes met with Cole's. He gently brushed her hair aside, giving her a comforting smile. John, all apologies in the world is not enough. Your way was wrong and I'm glad I stopped you, Cole thought while looking up at the blue skies, still holding Kuo in a close embrace. 

"We can't use him." Kuo said, regaining some of her composure. 

Cole whole heartily agreed. Moya could spit molten lava for all he cared, he was not going to ask Albert help them take out Rose. On their way back to Sonya and the main camp, Cole called in to Zeke and the rest, reporting in on the status of Albert. Every word tasted like rotten meat as Cole told them about Albert. Zeke didn't say much, just telling him to keep it together and not give up. That evening, Cole, Kuo and Sonya went over their options in how to take out Rose. As far as they could tell, Rose was the glue that held it all together, much like with Bertrand in New Marais. Take her out and her thugs will fall apart, confused, scared and leaderless. Without a Conduit backing them up, admiral Davidson could clean up any remaining goons that still clung to their guns. Kuo volunteered to take on Rose's goons, as she could easily freeze them without hurting them. Cole would then be free to concentrate on Rose. Various ranged attacks were discussed, but what worried Cole the most was that smog. 

Even if Kuo froze the goons in their tracks, it was still possible for Rose to drain them with her smog, making it a long battle. Since Rose had taken in an unknown number of blast shards, they could not tell how much smog she could carry before she had to... recharge, however she did that. Moya came with some input regarding Sasha, whom had been captured and studied by DARPA to an extent. Nearly all of Sasha's bodily fluids had been replaced by the tar and her body was producing massive amounts of it, taking in just about any other liquid and converting it using her own body, into the tar. If Rose was anything like Sasha, she'd be able to take in just about any type of gas and convert as Sasha could. 

After planning for the bulk of the night, Cole, Kuo and Sonya had a plan worth trying. Kuo'd take care of the goons, Cole would get Rose's attention and keep her pinned. Sonya would get a chance to laser target Rose from a distance and admiral Davidson would fire special missiles that would knock away the air upon detonation. It would thin out the existing smog and rob Rose of any fuel to create new smog. Plus with the absence of oxygen, Rose would be gasping for air, allowing Cole or Kuo to move in for the kill. It was a sound plan and as soon as Sonya came back with the laser target device, they were good to go. 

"Rest up, we'll strike at first day light." Admiral Davidson told them over the radio. 

Sonya fell asleep like a rock the moment she got inside her sleeping bag. For Kuo it wasn't that simple, she was still pretty shaken by Albert. 

"Want another cup of soup?" Cole asked, offering her a cup. 

Without saying anything, Kuo accepted the cup with a blank expression. The two of them sat quietly, watching the stars as they shimmered and blinked in the night sky. 

"What about Albert?" Kuo asked finally. 

Yeah, it'd been on Cole's mind as well. One thing was to clean up this mess, another was what to do with Albert. He was a Conduit, but just a kid – no parents either. Would DARPA move in and lock him up in some lab or bunker as soon as they turned their backs to him? Should they take him with them? The road they were traveling wasn't a joy ride, just one paved with cities like this, fates like Albert's. Cole took a sip from his soup. He didn't know. Simple as that, he didn't know what to say, what to do, what was the right thing to do, what was the best thing to do. Cole was at a total loss. 

"I don't know Kuo, I honestly don't know. We'll just have to cross that bridge when we get there." Cole told her with all sincerity, looking up at the pale milky way stretching across the night sky. 

That wasn't much of a comfort, but at that time and at that place, it was all Cole could come up with. 

"I wonder... if John had not been in such a rush... if he'd stopped and looked closer, do you think he'd have a change of heart?" Kuo asked. 

Cole thought it over for a long, long time. 

"Yeah, I think he would. He did what he felt was best, but if he'd learned about people like Albert, I think... I know that he would not carry on. At least the John I got to know in Empire City would." Cole answered, looking deeply into his soup cup as if the answers were somewhere between the pasta and the onions. 

Kuo wiggled herself a little closer to Cole and tilted her head over, resting it on his shoulder. He knew that he should stop her, push her away to keep from getting too close. Cole could almost hear Kessler screaming out objections as if he was standing right behind them. For once, Cole did not listen. Kessler was dead, John was dead and Cole together with Kuo was moving into uncharted territory, where Kessler had no dominion. His advice, teachings and prophecies had ended with the death and defeat of the Beast. From here on, Cole would be the maker of his own fate. 

"You know, I've been wondering. Did you dye your hear?" Cole asked for no real reason. Kuo was breathing calmly and steadily as if asleep. 

"No... after my rather... educational first shower, I realized that the color of my hair had changed." Kuo replied. "I did add the make-up though, to make it complete." She added shortly after. 

The conversation died again, but Cole didn't mind too much, since he'd managed to change track from Albert to smaller things. He wasn't sure if it was successful for Kuo as well, but at least he made an effort. Around them, the camp settled down and got ready for another cold night sleeping outside. People walked away from the flickering, golden lights of barrel fires and crawled into the shadows. It was a scenery that Cole had seen before in Empire City, but after meeting with Albert, he saw it in a totally different light. Rather than a group or a crowd, he started looking for individual fates. Someone's father, someone's mother, someone's son, someone's sister, someone's lover... they were most likely all here, hanging on to the best of their abilities. 

Kuo started to talk, gently bringer Cole out of his train of thoughts. For the first time, Kuo spoke about her capture and what Bertrand had done to her. She'd been dazed and confused at first, but she gathered herself, especially after learning that Dr. Wolfe was dead. Lashing out and call Bertrand names didn't do her much good though, as he just let his thugs give her a beating. She told Cole how she grew scared as a little girl when Bertrand told her he knew she was a Conduit and that she'd better be of use to him. 

Without another Ray Sphere available, Dr. Wolfe dead, his lab in ruins and research notes in the hands of the enemy, Bertrand had to go through some nontraditional channels to get what he wanted. He held survivors of Dr. Wolfe's staff at gun point, telling them to get Kuo's Conduit abilities activated. When they presented nothing but excuses, no matter how valid, Bertrand had them hurt in ways Kuo failed to explain in detail. Eventually, a badly beaten staff member suggested a blood transfusion from one of the earlier experiments to Kuo. 

The process was slow, painful and chilling to through heart, mind and soul. Kuo said it was as if she'd been drained for live and filled with death. After God knows how long, she reached a critical point and the scales tipped from human to Conduit. It almost killed her. If that had been it, perhaps she could get to terms with it. But Bertrand was just getting started. After a few initial tries, Bertrand gloated that they were ready; ready for mass production. 

Kuo fell silent. Cole wasn't sure why she decided to talk about that kind of topic now, but he'd just heard her out nonetheless. He was unsure if he should let Kuo call it quits or if he should give her a little nudge. 

In the end he decided to ask. "Then what?" 

Kuo thought it over, sighing deeply a few times. Guess it is hard on her, even after all this time, Cole thought and silently kicked himself for asking. 

"Then... you came." Kuo said, sighing one last time. An calm and soothing silence followed. 

Cole felt something round, soft and icy cold on his left cheek. Startled, he pulled away, looking at Kuo. She looked at him with lost, sad eyes as if hoping and waiting for something. It had felt a little like when Kuo touched his cheek for the first time at St. Charles Cemetery back in New Marais. This time it was gentler, it didn't have that icy burn and sting to it. She didn't, did she...? The question lingered in Cole's mind. 

"I-I'm sorry. Just... just forget it, okay?" Kuo apologized, sounding flustered as she quickly rose and walked over to her sleeping bag.


	12. My Darling Child

Dawn came and Cole got ready. 

"Kuo, I'm counting on you to watch my back. Sonya, stay out of sight and let me know when the bombs will drop, okay?" Cole told the two of them. 

They both nodded seriously and headed straight out to confront Rose. AH-64 Apaches deployed from the Ike and bombarded the hospital with tear gas, stun grenades and flash bangs. Cole stood in the middle of the main street leading to the hospital, to draw everyone's attention on him the moment the got out. True enough, Rose and her thugs came crashing out. 

"Good morning, you bastards..." Cole said to himself with clenched teeth, pulling out his Amp. 

The tear gas only worked for a short while, as Rose sucked it up and used it to extend her smog. Her goons stormed down the street, bent on taking down Cole. He rushed in and met them head on, but their attention was soon on Kuo, who'd came in from their flank, giving them the cold shoulder. Cole used Kinetic Pulse to hurl a parked car at Rose. She countered it, with her bare fist. Aside from sliding a little inch backwards, Rose was unaffected as she literary punched the car out of her way. 

"Oh-kay..." Cole said to himself, a little worried now that he'd seen Rose's strength first hand. 

Mindful of his distance to Rose and her smog, Cole kept hammering on with ranged attacks, occasionally giving Kuo a helpful hand or two. Every now and then, Cole slipped into a side street to recharge, but was never away for long in order to keep Rose in one place. The strategy was working, slowly but surely they were wearing Rose down. Things really tuned into their favor when Kuo had rounded up the last of Rose's goons and joined the main fight. 

Rose showed all the signs of a cornered predator. This is bad, we better get those bombs dropped before she does anything stupid, Cole thought. Sonya was on the top of her game, taking the chance to pin point with her laser where the bombs would drop. 

"15 seconds!" Zeke called out in Cole's ear piece. 

Cole brazed himself for the blast and getting ready to dash in to finish Rose out with one blow. He was low on power, hoping it was enough Cole took a deep breath and held it. As the missiles came in, they suddenly came off course and rammed into the hospital, causing it to crack to the left before crumbling to the ground, engulfing the nearby blocks in dust. What the hell was that? 

"Cole?" Kuo cried out from somewhere on his right. 

He couldn't see the tip of his nose, let alone where Kuo was calling from. A sudden gust of wind nearly blew Cole off his feet and when it calmed down, the visibility was significantly improved. Rose was brought to her knees, unable to take much more. A few feet in front of her, Albert sat in his wheelchair, stretching his thin little arms as much as he could to either side. 

"Stop bullying mommy!" He shouted. 

What caused the biggest shock? The raw power that Rose had, the detonation of military missiles right next to you, the collapse of a hospital or the fact that Rose was Albert's mother. This was almost as mind-blowing as when Kessler had shown Cole the future. If she's your mother, if you say that she does bad things, then WHY ARE YOU STANDING UP FOR HER NOW? Cole couldn't comprehend, he failed miserably at any attempts to wrap his head around it. 

"Cole, are you okay?" Kuo zipped in by his side, helping him to his feet. 

Yeah, Cole was okay, it was the world around him that was screwed up beyond recognition. 

"Take-out-the-kid,-Cole." Moya's twisted, speaker-like voice cracked and snapped inside the ear piece. 

"Are you serious?" Cole demanded back. 

"I'm-always-serious-Cole.-Albert-is-not-a-stable-Conduit.-Take-him-out.-NOW." Moya replied indifferently, before shutting off communication. 

Spitting curses and foul language, Cole got back on his feet. He knew that Moya was right, but God damn! Just looking at his face, Kuo knew what Cole had been told. He looked at her seriously. 

"We have to, Kuo." He told her, leaving no room for objections. 

"No, no, no... NO! Cole, he's a child...! A blind...!" Kuo objected, her voice a horrible mix of desperate pleading and infernal anger. 

"We HAVE TO! KUO!" Cole didn't mean it to come out so loud, so harshly and his words hurt himself just as much as they hurt Kuo. 

He looked at Kuo one more time, stroking her cold cheek with his hand and lifting her chin up so they looked each other in the eyes. Cole wanted her to know that this was it, this is what they were going to do; make impossible decisions in a split second, do horrible things for the greater good. With that said between their eyes, Cole let go and strengthened his grip on the Amp before jogging over to Albert. Rose and Albert proved to be quite the duo; Rose would create smog and Albert would direct it with his wind powers towards where there were people, allowing Rose to regain her strength. Parallel to this, Albert was able to keep Cole away and throw off his aim. Cole decided to discard his ranged attacks and move in closer for the kill. The winds Albert threw at Cole was at the upper part of the hurricane scale, and mixed with debris in different shapes and sizes, Cole had to abandon his plan. 

Rounding a corner to find shelter from the howling winds and to look up a place to recharge, Cole thought over his options. Alone he couldn't do much, it was two against one and even if one of them was down, she was getting up pretty damn fast. Sonya, who'd been watching the whole scene from afar, landed next to Cole as he was draining a parked bus dry. 

"Admiral Davidson wants me back on the Ike to pick up some equipment." She told him, deeply out of breath. 

Cole looked at her with a confused face. What kind of equipment. 

"Hold the fort until then, Cole. 90 seconds, okay?" She asked him, giving him a thumbs up. 

Weakly, Cole replied with a thumbs up, though he had no idea what to do. With no Ion charges, Cole had limited options as everything he'd tried up until now had failed. Ranged attacks were affected by the strong winds and the debris, plus Cole couldn't get close enough for a melee attack. Not that it mattered, by now Rose would probably beat him to pulp if he however unlikely managed to get close. Still, this was not the time to call it quits. Sonya seemed to have an idea from the admiral, and he had a whole toy box of military gadgets. Maybe Zeke had a crazy idea he was putting into motion now? 

"Alright. Round 2, FIGHT!" Cole said to himself, smacking himself on the cheeks to get a hold of himself. 

He spared no expense and went in with all that he had. Frost shield to cover himself from debris and give him some shelter from the screaming winds and firing Magnum Bolts at every chance he got. It didn't last long as Cole was not fully charged. Albert kept Cole on his toes and despite taking a few hits, he remained vigilant. Is Rose able to transfer strength to other people too? The thought crossed Cole's mind as he was dodging a flying dumpster. 

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Sonya, whatever you're playing at, you better do it fast!" Cole panted to himself, feeling drained and weak. 

His hands were trembling and he had problems holding up his own weight. This was not good. BAM! Albert shot out and to the left of his wheelchair, as if he'd been struck in the head with a massive force. Cole spun around and spotted Sonya at the top of one of the nearby buildings, holding the biggest rifle Cole had ever seen. 

"You shot a kid with an anti-materiel rifle? Are you nuts?" Cole shouted at her. 

"Cole! Behind you!" Kuo cried out and just as Cole looked over his shoulder, he spotted Rose in the corner of his eye before they crashed together. 

Rose was strong as a bull. Cole got the impression that she could crack a Devourer open like an egg given her strength and how angry she was. All traces of humanity was gone in Rose's eyes. She had lost it, flipped over the hills and far away. The two Conduits wrestled on the street, but in his weakened state, Cole was easily overpowered and was soon reduced to a mere rag-doll for Rose to throw around as she saw fit. 

"Die, die, die, die, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!" Rose cried with ever punch and kick she landed on Cole. 

At some point it stopped hurting all together and Cole wondered if he'd gone empty of bones for Rose to break, since he couldn't hear it any more. 

"You killed him...! You killed my darling child! You! You! You! You MONSTER!" Rose's face, painted with insane rage breathed her stinky smog into Cole's face. 

Had he had the strength, Cole would have vomited, but he could not find it. BAM! Rose's head reared to the right and her grip on Cole's tattered shirt loosened a little. 

"BIT-!" Rose began, but was cut short of another shot and then another. 

The fourth round came after Rose had let go of Cole and dropped to the ground. Cole was a mess, his mid drifting in and out of consciousness and unable to feel anything, even the aftermath of the severe beating Rose had just given him. Sonya rushed over with a car battery and Cole's body sucked it dry by reflex. What happened after that, Cole didn't remember. He woke up days later in the infirmary on the Ike. Zeke was the first one to talk to him when he finally did come through. Told him he should have been dead 5-6 times over after what Rose had done to him. Speaking of Rose, both she and Albert were confirmed dead. After a lot of tuck and tow between admiral Davidson and Moya, their bodies were cremated. While DARPA was crying buckets over a lost chance to study Conduits, admiral Davidson's decision was supported by the brass at the Pentagon and White House. 

Cole asked how the others were doing and after a moment of hesitation, Zeke broke the news. Sonya was pretty shaken, but hanging in there. The admiral had several professional staffers taking care of her. Kuo was a different matter. She'd refused extraction and hid herself somewhere inside Petersburg. Since Sonya had no combat powers, they figured they'd wait until Cole got back on his feet and take it from there. Cole had made a speedy recover, since Zeke suggested that they'd hook up his bed to batteries, as electricity had healing powers on Cole's body. Looking under his bed, Cole saw at least half a dozen batteries. 

Being told to take it easy for at least 24 hours, Cole was left with his thoughts. Albert had lost it, so had Rose. They could not be talked to, reasoned with, haggled with, bargained with or threatened or bullied or intimidated. Cole was convinced of it, a question remained; was Kuo? Had she decided to run away? Make Petersburg her own and hope for the best? Not a chance. She'd know that Cole and the others would come for her if that was the case. Then what was it? What made her run away? A search for a meaning, a reason, a truth behind such a seemingly pointless act? 

"What are you thinking, Kuo? What are you doing?" Cole mumbled to himself. 

"Another-test-of-your-capabilities." Moya commented from the hallway. 

Great, now I have to deal with the living dead as well, Cole thought. 

"I'm-interested-to-see-if-you-have-what-it-takes-to-mold-agent-Kuo-into-a-useful-Conduit." She carried on, rolling inside the room on her electrical wheelchair. 

Cole didn't find the interest to argue or debate with Moya. He just let her rant on until she'd choke on her own words, saving him the trouble of strangling her. So that's what we're to you? Dolls and puppets that dance to your tune? When we're no longer useful or you're bored with us, you'll just throw us into the trash and ask daddy to buy you a new one? Cole would bring Kuo back alright. He'd bring her back and he'd make her understand what Kessler had made him understand. That's what has made Cole who he is today and if Kuo were to have any chance, she needed the same kind of mindset. Of that, Cole had no doubt. 

"I'll go see the admiral now. Do you mind?" He asked Moya. 

She moved aside and let him pass. The admiral was on the bridge, organizing the aid supplies to Petersburg when Cole asked for a minute of his time. 

"I'll get her back, admiral." Cole assured him. 

"I sure hope so Mr MacGrath, both for your sake and hers. If you can't, you'll go to jail and she becomes an enemy of the United States. Do I make myself clear?" The admiral said very seriously. 

Yes, Cole knew that the stakes are high. There had to be a reason for this and Cole suspected that he'd find it inside Petersburg.


	13. The Truth Beneath Rose

When the medics on-board the Ike finally let Cole of the hook, he was more than eager to find out what had made Kuo go into hiding. 

"6 hours MacGrath, that's all we can spare." Admiral Davidson told him just before he took off. 

Zeke offered his help, but Cole passed on the offer. Instead he asked Zeke to keep an eye on Sonya and make sure she doesn't do anything rash while Cole was gone. 

"I'll bring her back, Zeke. Don't sweat it." Cole told his friend and then he left. 

The city was starting to show some humble signs of improvement; supplies were being dropped, people being better fed and dressed, not to mention that the removal of Rose had helped a lot. It was tempting to get sidetracked and help keeping people from fighting over the rations, but Cole didn't have that luxury, so he pressed on. UAV's had been sweeping over the city while Cole had been patching himself up, jotting out a map. There was one house that really stood out, since it was covered with snow and ice. 

"Better start there and play it by ear." Cole mumbled, tucking the map away in his pocket. 

Using Lightning Tether, Cole covered a lot of ground, moving from roof to roof. He noticed that people stopped and looked up in awe as Cole pulled himself over busy streets. Nothing to see here, move along people, Cole thought to himself. Surely they had better and more important things to do than to be impressed by the electrical edition of spiderman. Finally he found the house and settled down on street level about a block away. Cole figured it would be best to take the open and honest approach, rather than sneak in and grab tactic that Moya had suggested. As he walked up to the house, he noticed people peeking out from behind curtains, just like they do in old western movies. 

It was rather absurd, two inches of snow outside of a single house and even icicles hanging along the edges of the roof. 

"Kuo, you in here?" Cole asked, knocking on the frost covered front door. 

There was no answer. Looking around, Cole hesitated regarding what to do next. Take a look inside or wait outside? Kuo could be out securing supplies or even helping out, or she could be inside in a fortified position, or simply sleeping. In the end, Cole decided to take his chances and walk inside. He needed to talk to Kuo or the situation would not be resolved. Please, please don't be as unreasonable as Nix, Cole begged in his mind. 

The insides of the house was freezing and it got only colder the deeper Cole went in. In a strange way, it reminded Cole when he and Zeke helped breaking Kuo free from Bertrand. At least this time she wasn't part in some sick scheme to mass-produce wanna-be Conduits, instead Cole was unsure whether Kuo was on his side or not. 

"Quality or quantity, which one is worse? Hell if I know." Cole sighed to himself, rubbing his arms to keep warm. 

Nobody was home, at least not on the ground floor, so Cole headed upstairs. Bathroom was a mess, Kuo's powers had messed up the plumbing pretty bad, master bedroom was trashed, but empty and the guest room door was locked. 

In the children room he found what he was looking for, Kuo sleeping in what looked like a bed of sorts, made out of ice and with snow as a madras. If it was freezing downstairs, up here it was so cold it practically hurt and Cole was a Conduit so he could take more pain than most. Kuo seemed to be harmless and peaceful, then again most people are when they're sleeping. Unless they're having a nightmare or somehow managed to sleep with their eyes open. Cole noticed that Kuo held something tight in her arms, hugging it close to her chest. A couple of books? 

"Kuo...? Wake up, Kuo." Cole put his hand on Kuo's shoulder and gently rocked her back and forth while calling her name as calmly as he could. 

Kuo squinted her eyes, groaned and in the next split second she was like a cornered tiger. 

"WHOA! WHOA! Easy!" Cole stepped so fast backwards that he tripped over his felt and ended sitting in the hallway. 

Guess it's not easy to pull the rug under the feet of a former NSA agent. Kuo hung on to those books, hugging them into her with one arm and holding her free hand ready to freeze Cole solid. Cole on the other hand sat perfectly still, holding his hands up as if to assure Kuo he'd not do anything. One minuted passed, then another. 

"Uhm... can I get up? I'm freezing my ass off here." Cole asked carefully. 

Kuo didn't say anything, but her stance was less tense and she gave him a quick nod. Getting to his feet, Cole was a little relived that things weren't totally hopeless. Dusting off his pants, Cole let out a deep breath before facing Kuo. 

"So..." He began, but was unsure of where to start. 

Maybe he should have brought Sonya after all, or maybe Zeke? Coming after her in numbers could just have made things worse, besides it had been his decision that Kuo could not agree with. Before he could speak up again, Kuo relaxed and walked right past him, before heading downstairs. She's ignoring me? Trish had done that a few times to Cole when they had arguments, but that was over paying bills or forgetting birthdays, not about saving cities from Conduits gone bad. Following Kuo downstairs, Cole found her sitting at the dining table, quietly browsing through one of the books she'd held on to so dearly. Carefully, Cole approached her and took a seat opposite of hers. There they just sat, Cole biding his time. He still had plenty of time and felt it was better if Kuo talked when she felt like it. 

Kuo stopped browsing through her book, turned it around and pushed it carefully over to Cole for him to read. It was a diary and the entry for that particular day was short. It simply read: today the city died, but I survived. Flipping page after page, it became clear to Cole that this was Rose's diary. Each entry showed that Rose was loosing it, spelling and grammar announced their departure and the writing became harder to make out. Earlier entries suggested a single, struggling mother hating her child. She blamed it for all the wrong or bad things that happened. Rose complained about how she had to do everything, EVERYTHING because Albert was born blind. 

The next book Kuo showed Cole was a photo album. Of all the photos, there weren't one of Albert, not a single one. Not even from when he was a baby, toddler or a new born at the hospital. 

"She was a terrible mother." Kuo said finally, her words sounding like dynamite going off because of the long silence that had hung over the two of them. 

She went on to how she'd asked around in Albert's camp about what had happened. They explained that they'd found Albert in a twisted wreck of a car and taken care of him. A nurse tended to him as best she could and eventually made the tough decision to amputate his legs to save his life. They didn't have the luxury of proper tools, let alone anesthesia. Kuo couldn't bring herself to go deeper into details, so instead she explained that the nurse died shortly afterward, most likely from the plague. Later, Albert came to and showed proof of his Conduit powers. Grateful to those who'd saved him, he returned their kindness by protecting them from his deranged mother. Whether Albert took after his mothers insanity because of his Conduit powers, or if it was another factor to it, Kuo could not say for certain. Just about everyone at the camp did, however, agree that Albert was a strange kid. 

It was a comfort of sorts, the truth beneath Rose. Not much, Cole would be the first to admit, more like a few drops of rain in the desert. 

"Was I wrong, Kuo?" Cole asked her. 

A startled gasp escaped Kuo as she straightened up in her chair. Cole closed the diary and the photo album, putting them aside. 

"I..."Kuo started, but could not voice whatever it was that she felt and thought. 

This was it, Cole thought, the turning point. Had it been Kessler Kuo had to relate to, she'd been more cornered, more pressed, more forced to take a stand. Well, in truth she was dealing with Kessler, but not the Kessler that Cole knew. Kuo seemed to struggle, trying time and time again to voice her thoughts, but stopped just before the first sound could escape her lips. Kuo closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, seemingly to have made up her mind. She opened her eyes and looked Cole straight in the eye. 

"No." She said as if being freed from a burden. 

For all her thoughts, feelings, values and morals, it boiled down to that one, short word. Cole too felt like it was a load of his chest. No fighting, no tears, no sore and bitter goodbyes. Kuo had come through, like Cole had back in Empire City. A lingering and troubling thought still circled Cole's mind. Would Kuo require to confirm what sort of person, what sort of human was behind the Conduit at every turn? That's a lot of fates to take in and carry around. He was worried that it would break her at some point. Hopefully this was a one thing only, it had after all even shaken Cole to his core, so it was no surprise that Kuo had problems with it. With the biggest hurdle out of the way, Cole wanted to tie up any possible loose threads. 

"You okay?" He asked Kuo. 

She silently shook her head. Guess she's still very much human after all, Conduit or not, Cole thought to himself. 

"How do you do it, Cole? How do you... keep going, doing this?" Kuo asked, quiet tears freezing and cracking free from her cheeks. 

At times like this, Cole wished he was really good with words or had some fancy quote to use. Too bad Cole wasn't much of a reader. Still, this wasn't a question he could leave hanging. The gears inside Cole's head turned as fast and as hard they could, but nothing came to mind. Why wasn't there a textbook for people with superpowers? Didn't you bother writing one, Kessler? Cole realized that Kessler had become like a trashcan, all the problems could be thrown at Kessler and it would make Cole feel a little bit better, for a short while. 

"It's a funny thing. No matter how low you sink there's still a right and wrong. You always end up choosing. You go one way so you can try to live with yourself. You go the other, you'd still be walking around, but you're dead and you don't even know it. " Cole said to Kuo, though it wasn't much of an answer, let alone comfort. 

Even so, it came across as a diet coke version of what Kessler had beaten into Cole. Kuo let his words sink in, thinking them over carefully. 

"Is... is that what you learned from Kessler?" Kuo asked gently, as if afraid to rip open old wounds. 

Cole nodded his head, rocking back and forth a little in his chair. Yeah, Kessler had thought him that, using Trish as a textbook example. Problem was, Cole was unsure whether he was alive or just an empty shell spitting out electricity every now and then. Perhaps someday, all the smiles, happy tears and heartfelt thank you's would be able to fill up the void left by Trish, but for now Cole simply didn't know. Kuo withdrew from the table, still in deep thought. Cole didn't let her out of his sight, but let her wander around, mulling things over. Carefully stealing glances at the watch on his cell phone, Cole kept track of the time. They were still doing good. Another four hours left. 

"Got any other advice for me, coach?" Kuo asked from afar. 

Thank goodness, it seemed that Kuo was coming out of it. It was a small gamble, but in an effort to lighten the mood, Cole came with some good, if not rather obvious advice. Like, eat your vegetables, get to bed early, don't drink too much, don't smoke, do your homework and things like that. Thankfully it did work out as intended, Kuo smiled and allowed herself a giggle or two as they left the house where Rose and Albert once lived. 

Stopping every now and then to help out, Kuo and Cole decided to walk back to the Appomattox River for extraction. The fresh air and long walk would do them good, despite the rather depressing scenery. A city in ruins isn't a pretty sight, no matter how you twist and turn it, at least that's what Cole felt. Cole called ahead and gave Zeke the good news. Feeling a few metric tons lighter, Zeke had some good news as well. Turned out that Rose's goons had been very thorough and as a result, there wasn't a single blast shard left in the whole city. Radiation levels were dropping fast and would be back to normal within a week or two.


	14. Things That Make You Go Hmm...

"I can't believe this!" Zeke sounded disappointed. "Let me see if I get this straight... you went after Kuo and talked with her for a few hours, then you get sick?" 

Cole laid flat out in bed (again), this time with a high fever. He'd tried to explain to Zeke that it was as if Hell had frozen over inside that house, but Zeke could do nothing but laugh. 

"I mean... this is almost as if Superman got sick after a date with Louis Lane!" Zeke laughed. 

That was the third time Zeke pulled that joke, it was getting very old, very fast. Tucking himself deeper under the quilt, Cole grumbled something about that he wasn't Superman and Kuo sure as Hell wasn't Louis Lane. Finally one of the nurses managed to get Zeke shoved out the door, allowing Cole some peace and quiet to recover. The Ike had already shifted course and was heading for the next city. Which one that was, Cole wasn't sure, but rather than worry about that he'd concentrate on getting better as soon as possible. For some reason, the good old common cold could not be chased away with batteries. The doctor suspected that electricity would only accelerate the healing of physical injuries, leaving everything else to take its natural course. Cole could agree to that, as the effects of Sasha's tar would not get healed away by draining more electricity. 

When Cole woke up he was soaked in sweat, pillow, quilt, bed sheets, the works. It almost looked like someone had flushed him down with a fire hose. 

"You're awake? We better get those sheets changed." Kuo said, getting up from her seat. 

Cole felt very out of ease, he was after all just wearing his trunks. Noticing Cole being reluctant and hesitant, Kuo narrowed her eyes at him. 

"Cole, we're both grown ups, don't be so childish." She chided Cole as if talking to a kid. 

Pouting and giving a few protests bore no fruit, Cole had no say in the matter. Kuo would fix him new bed sheets, whether he liked it or not. Sitting up in a freshly changed bed, Cole just wanted to sleep more, but Kuo wouldn't let him off the hook that easily. Changing sheets would be for naught if the sweat wasn't wiped off Cole's body. 

"I can do that myself." Cole protested. 

"Even your back? Wow, you really are a superhero. Now turn around and be quiet." Kuo was actually sarcastic, that was new. 

Kuo's hands worked in fast, faint, gentle brushes. Looking around, over his shoulder, Cole noticed that Kuo was dipping the cloth in a bucket of water that stood on a small portable gas stove. While the water wasn't boiling, it was still steaming and it made an angry hiss whenever Kuo's fingers dipped into it. 

Remembering what Kuo had told him about showering, Cole figured that every dip must sting pretty badly. He couldn't see it, but Cole was sure that Kuo flinched at every dip. Turning away, Cole rested his elbows on his lap and folded his hands together. Maybe it was the fever, maybe it was his powers being under the affect of Kuo's or maybe Cole was just loosing it, but he saw Kessler standing in front of him. Out of the fog of Cole's blurry mind, Trish stepped up, looking at him with dead eyes. 

"Doesn't it hurt? The warm water I mean." Cole asked, finding his right big toe incredible interesting at the moment. 

Kuo's hands paused for a moment. When she resumed she said calmly "Yeah, it burns." 

Not quite like in the movies, where the standard answer would be a straight no, followed by strong denial. They sat there in a soothing silence for another minute or two before Kuo was done. 

"Here, it's important that you drink a lot of water." She said, offering Cole a glass of water. 

Just as he was about to take it, Cole noticed that Kuo was holding the glass in a pinch, the kind that you'd normally use to fish hot dogs out of the pot. Taking the glass, Cole was unsure if Kuo was caring because she wanted to or if it was one of Zeke's little schemes. Packing Cole back in under the quilt, Kuo stroked his forehead affectionately a few times. Smiling she told him to get some more rest and that Sonya would bring some food for him later before taking her leave. 

"Zeke... you're so dead." Cole mumbled as he fell asleep again. 

His sleep was haunted by nightmares; the Ray Sphere was back in his hands. It popped open and spilled out all these people he couldn't save, crying his name, Kessler's cold, calculating smile, Trish's scream as she fell to her death, John's rebirth as the Beast, Bertrand's stench and a lot more. Despite being dead tired, the dreams were so real, so bad that they drove Cole awake. When he woke up again, Cole saw that Sonya had been here and left again, leaving behind a bowl of soup. It tasted nothing, just a half warm substance floating around in his mouth, but Cole ate it all. Putting away the now empty bowl, Cole raised his head and saw Zeke coming in. 

"How's it going brother?" He asked Cole. 

"A little better, thanks to the efforts of nurse Kuo." Cole said dryly, not happy about it. 

Zeke took a seat next to the bed and looked like he had something important to tell Cole. It wasn't Zeke's idea to let Kuo take care of Cole, more on the contrary, he'd objected to it because of the practical problems she' run into. While that did put Zeke in a better light, Cole still wasn't happy about it. Kuo was a good woman, it wasn't that. It was... just about everything else. 

"So... ah... what did she do?" Zeke asked, edging closer on his seat, leaning forward. 

This little perv, Cole thought with a smile. Of course Zeke took it the wrong way, assuming that Kuo had given a lot of extra service. 

"She did things that make you go hmm... almost as if someone told her to do this." Cole said, his words acting like a bucket of ice water on Zeke. 

He went back to insisting that he had no part in it, and whatever Kuo'd done, it was something she'd done on her own, despite his protests. Yeah, and that was the problem, Cole thought. What should I do? Kessler? Trish? Any ideas, any of you? This was one matter that Cole felt he couldn't confine in anyone. Zeke wanted to hook the two of them together, so he was biased. Moya? She'd just twist it and use it to her own ends. Admiral Davidson? A good man, powerful ally, but not really a friend. Sonya? She was about as neutral as possible, but she was also very naive when it came to Conduits and the responsibility that followed. Most likely because she didn't have so much riding on her powers. On the other hand, Cole felt that he'd loose it if he kept carrying all this... this emotional baggage around on his own. Still stuck in bed, Cole was left alone with his thoughts, sort things out and get them straightened out. 

"Excuse me, nurse? Do you have a notebook and a pen I can use?" Cole asked and after a little while he got it. 

He'd never been much of a writer, but Cole figured it was currently the best way to get things off his chest. Yeah, it was a girlish thing to do, confine to a book, but that diary that Rose had kept made an impression on Cole. She had her problems, and even if she did take them out on Albert every now and then, she also talked about them in her diary. Cole doubted this would be a diary, but for now he'd just put his thoughts down and leave it at that. Trish had told Cole at one point that even if it doesn't immediately solve the problems, it does help to talk about them. Taking up on her advice, Cole started writing. To get it done right, he started at the beginning, in Empire City. Cole was worried that someone might steal the book or peek inside it while he was out, and dragging it around wasn't a very attractive alternative either. Crucial information was deliberately kept vague or left out completely. He might add a small footnote in the margin, but details were a big no-no. 

After getting the mess in Empire City down on paper, Cole felt noteworthy better, or maybe that was just because his fever was going down. Either way, he pressed on to the events that took place in New Marais. When Cole came to his first meeting with Kuo after recovering from getting her powers, he paused. 

"What do I do...?" He quietly asked. 

Would he keep the same policy as earlier or should he change? Considering that Cole wanted to write about his problems, it would be best to be honest and detailed. However that could spell disaster further down the road. 

"If the road ahead proves problematic, consider a leap of faith. Ride the wind!" Cole was not sure where he had that line from, but it didn't matter. 

Kessler could go screw himself in his grave, Cole decided to go for it and be brutally honest. Sentences became paragraphs, paragraphs became pages and Cole had almost run out of pages by the time he'd come to the Beasts defeat. 

"That will do, for now at least." Cole said, closing the book and putting it away. 

About half an hour later, admiral Davidson came by for a quick visit. 

"Mr MacGrath, there's been some change in plans." He said, getting straight to the point as soon as he took a seat. 

Uh-oh, that could be good news or it could be bad news. Good news would be nice, Cole hoped. The admiral had been fighting a loosing battle against the higher ups and Moya. Things were going to be done differently now, since Cole & Co failed to deliver sufficiently in Petersburg. Cole, Kuo and Sonya would be shipped off to a remote and secure military facility. From there they'd be told to evaluate and train any Conduits the military captured during their clean-up of the east coast. Moya would be the supervisor of this project. Standard procedure would be to ask any Conduits to come forth and surrender. If they didn't, an attempt would be made to capture them alive by force. Should that fail, the city would be removed from this earth, any survivors with it. 

"What...? Are they going to nuke the cities?" Cole asked in disbelief. 

The admiral doubted it would come to that, but there were other weapons in the arsenal that would be used. This was politics and power struggles in a world Cole did not understand. To an extent he could see the logic, the reasoning behind it, but he sure as Hell didn't like it. Locked up in some bunker? Forced to train Conduits mastering their powers? For what? The next big war? Oh no, the public would be served some crap about for the greater good of humanity. Which translated loosely into another toy for the US war machine to use if and when needed. 

"Admiral, this is going to end with a second Cold War. If not with the Russians, then maybe China or North Korea. You've got to stop this, please!" Cole pleaded, he'd beg on his knees if he had to. 

Admiral Davidson assured Cole that he knew that and that he'd used that very same argument, but the brass would not listen. He had fought this with everything he had, called in every favor, looked under every rock and gone over every fine printed text he had clearance to see, but in the end, the admiral lost the first round. Cole was told that even if they'd lost the first round, they could still wiggle free from it, however given the state of the nation and the mandatory paper mill you'd have to wade through, it could take years before even a hearing would take place. 

The admiral haven't told the others yet and was wondering if he should, or if Cole wanted to break the news instead. 

"No... I... what about Zeke?" Cole suddenly asked, remembering that he hadn't been mentioned yet. 

"Once we dock, we'll let him ashore and that will be it. Mr Dunbar will not be joining you I'm afraid." The admiral told Cole regretfully. 

On top of that, Cole was told that they'd dock at Empire City. 

"You're going to leave him there, on the docks of Empire City? IT'S DEAD! Admiral, that city is dead. There's nothing there, Zeke will die if you leave him there." Cole protested. 

After all they'd been through, after nearly loosing him to the plague back in New Marais, Cole was forced to just cut Zeke off and leave him on some busted dock? 

"Admiral, please! At least make arrangements to get Zeke to New Marais. At least that city is still standing, at least there he has a freaking chance! I'll do anything, just... don't leave him!" At this point, Cole was grabbing the admiral by the collar and pleading, like a broken and beaten man. 

The silence from the admiral pushed Cole over the edge and for the first time since Trish had died, he cried his heart out.


	15. What's Wrong With Me?

While not fully recovered, Cole decided to break the news himself. He appreciated the admiral's offer to tell them, but letting someone else do this felt like running away. 

"This is going to be ugly." Cole mumbled and knocked on Kuo's door. 

"Cole? Should you be up and running? You don't look too good." Kuo said when she opened the door. 

Cole just asked her to meet him and the others in the cafeteria. They were going to have an emergency meeting. A few minutes later, he told Zeke the same thing. Sitting on the center table inside the cafeteria, Cole waited. He could hear them coming down the hall, chatting amongst themselves, their mood didn't appear too light. Whatever good vibe or feeling they might have had, they left it at the door when they saw Cole being caught between serious and sad. Whatever it was, it was just about as bad as it could be. 

"So... ah, what's the big news you gotta tell us?" Zeke asked, pulling up a chair. The others got seated as well. 

"I... I had a chat with the admiral an hour ago. There's been some decisions made and..." Cole chocked on the words. He hated to be the messenger when the news were bad. 

Clearing his throat with a cough, Cole carried on. 

"We're not going to keep on moving from town to town, dealing with Conduits. Instead, we'll be moved to a military facility and... they, the military, will capture Conduits." He looked around, try to get a read on their faces. 

Zeke was dumbstruck, just gaping. Kuo looked confused and skeptical, as if this was some joke and a bad one at that. Sonya appeared lost and scared. This one is going to blow up in my face for sure, Cole thought. 

"When or if the military get to capture a Conduit alive, he or she will be sent to us where we'll evaluate and train them in using their powers." That was the bomb that went off. 

Zeke shot out of his chair as if it was on fire, protesting and Kuo did the same thing. Are you kidding me? Is this a joke? You can't be serious? Is this for real? What? What? What is going on? Cole shushed them down with some effort. The worst part wasn't over just yet. 

"Cole, you can't agree to this. I mean, you see where this is going right? We'll be weapon producers!" Kuo pointed out. 

Cole couldn't do much, aside from admitting he saw that clear as day. He told them that admiral Davidson felt the same way and had fought it, but lost. 

"Who's behind this?" Zeke demanded, although at this point, they all knew the answer. 

Moya. Cole could not be sure if this had been her plan all along, that they'd been dancing in her palm from day one or if she'd just seen a random chance come her way and taken it. Either way, they were pretty much screwed. 

"Get-your-things-packed.-We'll-leave-in-half-an-hour." Moya came rolling in on their meeting. 

Cole groaned, could her timing be any worse? 

"You're going to turn is into weapons?" Sonya demanded. 

"Serve-and-protect-my-dear." Moya replied with cold indifference. 

"You can't do this to us! We're human beings! We have rights!" Sonya protested. 

"You've-been-classified-as-Conduits,-not-humans.-There's-a-significant-legal-difference-there." Moya snorted. 

Sonya, who'd always been remarkably calm, levelheaded and collected, finally reached her breaking point. In tears she ran out of the cafeteria. 

"Cole!" Kuo shouted, and Cole gave chase after Sonya. 

Through the narrow corridors and up the steep stairs, Cole struggled to keep up. 

"Why can't I fly?" He panted as he climbed another set of stairs. 

An alarm rang at the top deck and for a moment Cole couldn't quite make a connection. Sonya couldn't do anything, she couldn't attack. All she could do was... fly. 

"NO! No, no, no, no! Sonya! DON'T!" Cole's legs got wings and he dashed out on the top deck. 

As Cole came out on deck he got there just in time to hear the angry loud roar of the automated machine guns spit out anti air fire. He couldn't see Sonya and judging from the sound, it came from the other side of the tower. 

"Confirmed hit! She's down! Target is down." One of the top deck crew members reported in. 

Cole grabbed him by the collar and yanked him close. 

"You shot her?" He nearly screamed at the poor man. 

"Y-y-y-yes sir, admiral's orders. No Conduit is to leave the ship without permission." The crew member replied. 

That wasn't a Conduit you fool, that was an elementary school teacher who by some twisted chance of fate could fly. Cole wanted him, everyone to understand that, but he figured it was no use. Venting his anger on someone like this poor crew member would do Cole nor the others any good. Save those you can. John, you were a fool. You've just dug us a deeper grave, Cole thought, walking back to the cafeteria with heavy feet. 

"Cole! That alarm, what was it? Where's Sonya?" Zeke asked, meeting him in the hallway. 

"Dead. She's dead Zeke, they shot her down as she tried to escape." Cole felt like he was vomiting the words out rather than saying them, but he got them out somehow. 

Another calculated move by Moya? Push Sonya over the edge to make an example of her? That seemed very like Moya. Cole put his back against the cold metal wall and slowly slid downwards. Zeke was just standing there, right in front of him and soon Cole had to let him go. The thought of it, mixed with everything else, just became too much. 

"Zeke, I've got to tell you something." Cole said, still sitting down, looking up at his lifelong friend. 

Zeke seemed to know this was also bad news and braced himself for it. 

"You're... not coming with us, with me and Kuo." Cole said with a heavy heart. It felt like he was dying or at least some part inside him was. 

"What? Why? What's wrong with me?" Zeke asked, spreading his arms. 

Why do you make me say it, Zeke? You know it, you know why. Still the question hung there, begging to be answered. 

"You're not a Conduit Zeke. That's why." 

It hurt, it was hard to swallow and it sucked more than anything Cole could think about at the moment, but there it was, the raw truth. Taking a seat against the opposite wall, Zeke sighed heavily. Guess its always been in the cards, ever since Cole became a Conduit. That at some point, somewhere down the line, Cole would go to a place where Zeke wouldn't be able to follow. They just sat there, not saying a word. Savoring the moment, squeezed it and held it. Kuo came looking for them eventually. 

"Hey guys, what's going on? Who died?" She asked without thinking. 

"Sonya." Zeke and Cole sighed in union. 

Kuo bit her lip and was upset about the news, but she tried to keep it together, be strong as Cole had wanted her to be. Don't push yourself too hard, you'll break, Cole thought, but said nothing. 

"I talked to the admiral, hoping they'll let you off in New Marais. You've got Laroche and the gang to help you out." Cole told Zeke and eventually brought Kuo up to speed with what would happen now. 

The helicopter that would take Cole, Kuo and Moya off the Ike and to their new home, for the lack of a better term, arrived and they were told to get ready. Cole just grabbed some food, his book and the Amp. Kuo apparently just brought with her a change of clothes and some toilet accessories. They were about to board the chopper when Zeke came running up to them. 

"Cole, I figured it out. The solution to all our problems." He said with a grin. 

Unless you've gotten through on the hotline to God, asked for a miracle and actually got one, it's not going to help, Cole thought. 

"I just kill this crazy woman here and things will be back to normal." Zeke said as he pulled a gun on Moya. The guards pulled out their guns and all of the sudden everything was much worse. 

"Zeke..." Cole chided. 

"No man, I'm serious." Zeke said, cocking his gun. 

Kuo cast a glance at Cole, asking if they should really go for it. Tempting as it was, they'd either end up dead or spend the rest of their lives on the run. Not, there had to be a better way. Mildly amused and not the slightest afraid, Moya said "You-wouldn't-dare." 

Zeke, with his classic charms gave her a wink. 

"Willing to bet your life on that? Well, what life you've got left." 

If anyone blinked at the wrong time, this would all end in a terrible mess, Cole know that. He put his hand around Zeke's wrist and Cole looked him the eyes. 

"Zeke, this isn't helping me. There will be another time. Put the gun away." 

Reluctantly Zeke did what he was told, tossing the gun away. Before Cole could say anything else, Zeke hugged him. 

"I love you brother and I'm sure gonna miss you." He told Cole with heartfelt honesty. 

The helicopter took off, taking Cole and Kuo with them and leaving Zeke back on the Ike. He looked so small and alone as he stood there on the deck, seeing them off. 

"You know what this is, don't you Cole? Textbook divide and conquer." Kuo told Cole when the Ike had gone out of view. 

Yeah, Cole knew that. Moya had tried various means to get Cole on a leach. Lies to make him do her bidding, promises made, but never kept, classical military force, fighting fire with fire by using Sasha's tar, making artificial Conduits of her own and even threaten with mind controlling gizmos planted in Cole's skull. None of it had worked, they had all failed and to a certain extent blown up in Moya's face. Lies and broken promises had made Cole distrustful of anything that came out of Moya's mouth, or speaker as it was the case now. Classical military force was just a well trained, equipped and disciplined edition of Reapers, Dust Men, First Sons, Bertrand's militia and Vermaak 88. Those artificial Conduits were nothing compared to the real deal, even if that David freak of an abomination had given Cole a serious run for his money. All in all, Moya's efforts to tame Cole had turned him into a Chinese finger trap of sorts; the harder you try the wrong way, the worse it is to get out. 

Cole turned and smiled at Kuo. For a brief moment Kuo looked confused, but then she recognized that confident smile and returned it with one of her own. 

"It doesn't matter Kuo. Me and Zeke? We'll never be divided and we'll never be conquered. It's going to work out, I don't know how, but it's going to work out." 

The flight wasn't very long and they ended up at some military air base, before being ushered on a train and shipped further inland. The train trip was long and uneventful. While the cities further into the country were still standing, as opposed to those on the East Coast, there was little life in them. The economic backlash from getting the East Coast burned to the ground must have hit hard, putting a damper on just about everything. After the train trip, they were put on an air plane and flew in the last distance. 

"Wonder where they're taking us?" Kuo asked, looking out the window of the plane. 

"Who knows? Area 51 maybe?" Cole replied from behind a magazine he was reading. 

At this point, anything seemed possible. Then again, deep in some desert seemed to make perfect sense. There isn't much infrastructure out there, so Cole would be hard pressed to find electrical sources. Without electricity, Cole was just a normal person who could take a beating more than most. Kuo would struggle in the heat, for all her powers she would be no match for a blazing hot desert sun. She might be able to recover during the freezing nights that deserts often had, but long enough for her to make an escape? Not likely. At long last, they arrived at their destination. At some point Moya had split up and traveled ahead of them, so she greeted them when they dismounted the plane. 

"Welcome-to-Area-51." She smiled. 

Cole and Kuo exchanged looks, as if telling each other: you've got to be kidding me. They were shown their quarters, which were of surprisingly high standard. Along with being bombarded with rules and regulations that they had to obey at all times, under a death penalty. Guess they don't play war around here, Cole thought settling down on his bed. That wasn't an excuse to give up and call it quits. Cole had every intention of getting out of this mess and hopefully be able to take Kuo with him. How though? He couldn't just walk out the front door. Hell, he wasn't even sure if this place had a front door. Zeke was half a country away, assuming admiral Davidson had managed to drop Zeke off at New Marais. Mulling things over, Cole remembered that Zeke was and still is, into conspiracy stuff. Cole didn't care too much for it, it was 98% crap, 1% plausible and 1% truth. Sorting one from the other was a chore Cole didn't bother with. He did know, however, that Area 51, assuming it was their current location, was a hot pot for conspiracy theories. If Cole could somehow tell Zeke that he was here, it could be the pebble that would later start an avalanche.


	16. All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You

For the first few weeks, not much happened at the base. The little they were allowed outside was enough to confirm that they were in the middle of nowhere, some desert for sure. Maybe Moya was just pulling their leg when she said it was Area 51, but it didn't matter. They were stuck deep inside the belly of the beast and with no clear way out, all they could do was bide their time. Quietly waiting for a chance of some sorts, that would help them spring free and turn the tables around in their favor for a change. 

Both Cole and Kuo and security clearance level D, where the D fittingly stood for: Don't Ask. Naturally, their movement was restricted accordingly, though they were told things would loosen a little bit up the moment the military would bring in Conduits. Cole had a faint hope that admiral Davidson would have some role in that, but he wasn't counting on it. What would they bring in? A broken shell of a human being, in chains and cage, like some foul animal? They sure would had they known the truth about John and the Beast. Come to think of it, they haven't asked any questions about that yet. 

Everyone was tight lipped and humor was completely absent. The only bright spot was that Kuo's room was always soothingly cool thanks to her powers being contained within massive concrete walls. "Okay, I see your 5 and raise you... 8." Cole and Kuo passed their time by playing poker, with ice chips Kuo made from the sink. While it was an okay way to kill the long hours, it was also a hidden training of sorts. It allowed them to train in keeping a straight poker face, which Kuo had pointed out would be critical to them if they had any hopes of getting out of here. Not to show any hint of things being out of the ordinary, when they really were for whatever reason, would prove invaluable. 

"Three kings." Kuo said, putting down her cards. 

"Uhm... a pair of five." Cole admitted. 

Even if it was just a game and it was just ice that they were playing over, it still hurt to be beaten by a girl. Cole couldn't bluff, at least not with Kuo. 

"Best five out of seven?" He asked. 

Kuo was happy to comply, since Cole already owed her 165 ice chips, she'd be happy to lend him some for another round of crushing defeat. These were calm, peaceful and uneventful days. Each day felt like it was as long as a good week, but despite their environment, it was a peace and quiet Cole hadn't known in a long time. After his debt to Kuo passed 200 ice chips, Cole called it a day. 

"How do you think its going out there?" Kuo asked thoughtfully. 

That question was always lingering in the back of their minds, nagging for attention whenever they didn't keep their hands busy with something. 

"Heading steadily for a better tomorrow I guess?" Cole replied, without much conviction in his voice. 

They didn't know, as they were not told what was going on out there. No TV, no internet, no newspapers, no radio, no nothing. It didn't matter too much to Cole. By now, all the good stuff would be shushed away and wrapped in shameless propaganda anyway. Another week came and went without incident. Good news was that they didn't have Moya breathing down their necks. Their caretakers, if that was the term, were stiff as concrete pillars when it came to rules, but decent enough to treat both Cole and Kuo with respect. If they needed anything, they first had to check with them. A deck of cards? Sure, just fill out these 17 forms, 3 samples of each. Thank you very much, sir/ma'am. It was worst for Cole, since he was confined inside for most of the day. His lifestyle both before and after becoming a Conduit had always been an active one, always on the move, riding his bike (which Kessler blew to the moon and back), climbing, running and what not. Now? It boiled down to sit, lay, stand, walk and for God's sake don't run, for the guards will shoot you. 

In the end, Cole managed to haggle himself access to a climbing wall that he'd spotted while getting lost on the base. It took some of his edge off and let him blow off some steam while keeping himself in shape. Cole offered to give Kuo a few pointers, but she passed on the offer, saying someone had to catch him should he stumble and fall, static thrusters or not. He did feel a little bad, leaving Kuo alone while he was dangling by his fingers 20 feet off the ground. Kuo on the other hand, found herself a little pet project of her own. 

During lunch one day, Kuo paused and looked at Cole eating like a savage cave man. 

"Guess that climbing builds up your apatite." She noted with an amused smile. 

"Huh? Yeah, I'm starving. Pass the juice?" Cole said, his cheeks bulging with sandwiches. 

Deciding to take a lecture in average table manners another day, Kuo asked if Cole knew how to skate. 

"You kidding me? My brother dragged me out on the ice during junior high. I'm still having flashbacks of that horrible incident." Cole shuttered as if the mere thought sent a chill down his spine. 

It did put a damper on Kuo's good mood, but she let it slide. Later that week, Cole was told by his caretaker that a new Conduit was on its way and would arrive in a few days. For that occasion, they'd been given access to an older hangar as a training area. Kuo was apparently already there, checking it out. Curious and always welcoming a change in scenery, Cole walked over to check it out. The place was huge and Kuo sat near the center, on a little bar stool with a spare one just next to her. 

"This place isn't so bad. A few pot plants, some pillows and maybe a pair of pink, fluffy curtains over the door, it will be just like home." Cole said as he walked over to Kuo, his arms spread out wide. 

Noticing that Kuo had a smart little smile on her lips, as if she knew something and couldn't wait to tell the good news, Cole made a gesture as to tell her to spill it. Still smiling, Kuo gave the spare bar stool a little pat, asking Cole to take a seat. So he did, sitting right next to Kuo, the air noticeable colder around her pale skin. He was about to speak up, when Kuo bent over and picked up a large black umbrella and sprung it open above their heads. 

"You know that means bad luck, right?" Cole pointed out. 

Kuo didn't seem to care as she looked to her left and gave a wave to a guard standing on the far side. The guard gave a quick nod, pulled a leveler and left outside a small side door, closing it shut behind him. There was a gurgling sound, as when rainwater rushes through the drain overhead and then the sprinklers in the ceiling spurted out water, a lot of water. They didn't get soaked, thanks to the umbrella and rather dumbfounded, Cole just sat there, watching the floor getting soaked and listening to the unsteady rhythm of sprinkle water drumming on the umbrella. The water stopped sounding and looking like water as Cole realized the air was getting steadily colder. In the end, it wasn't water coming down, it was snow. 

"Happy birthday, Cole" Kuo smiled, shifting the umbrella to her other hand, so she could give Cole a quick kiss on the cheek. 

The snow was just an start for what Kuo had in mind. She was already wearing ice skates and froze the water on the floor to create a thin ice on the concrete floor. Skeptical as Hell and a little nervous, Cole was lured out on the ice with Kuo holding her hands. He was given a pair of gloves, so he wouldn't get frostbite on his hands from holding Kuo's. She was, much to Cole's surprise, a very competent ice skate, even if she had to drag Cole around on his sneakers. They did circles, figure eights, sprints and slalom, some which scared Cole out of his wits, others made him laugh. When they had their fair share of fun, Kuo tuned down her powers and the ice quickly melted. 

"I'm impressed. No, I'm more than impressed. You've really learned to master your powers, Kuo." Cole was not shy on giving his so-called student and partner praise when praise was due. 

Kuo seemed happy, if not embarrassed by it, trying to brush it off as if it was nothing. 

"It shouldn't come as a surprise though." Kuo said, still smiling. "After all, I've been trained by the best." 

Those words were worth a mountain of gold to Cole. She'd come along way, from St. Charles Cemetery in New Marais, all the way to this. Best birthday party Cole have had in years, period. That night, Cole slept like a rock. You'd need the Beast to get him out of bed, at least. Despite his deep sleep, Cole had dreams. The kind that are so vivid and lifelike that you're wondering if you're dreaming or waking up. 

"Happy birthday, Cole." Trish and Zeke said in union, sitting around the kitchen table at Trish's flat. 

They had a few beers, which weren't really cold, some cake and a lot of laughter. The three of them were cruising down memory-lane, the many funny and weird things they've been through together were played out before them as they shared stories and memories. For all its vividness, Cole knew deep down that it was a dream. Trish was dead and Zeke was gone, but at least alive or so Cole hoped. 

"Cole? What's wrong brother? Throwing that lip around like you're about to cry?" Zeke laughed, smacking Cole across his back. 

He tried to smile, he really did, but Cole couldn't lie to himself any more. 

"You're gone, Zeke. You're not here." Cole chocked on the words, his eyes burning with tears. 

Zeke and Trish exchanged looks and then turned to Cole, both taking a seat on either side, hugging him. The party lights faded away and it was as if little servants, tiny elves came carrying in with dozens of candles, all shapes and sizes. Once put in place, they were lit, creating a warm, yet dim light with long, dark shadows. A draft from the living room to the bed room window caused the flames to flicker, but not go out. The looming shadows danced their wicked dance on the walls, covering family photos with their darkness. 

"...yeah. I know. Kind of sucks, doesn't it?" Zeke admitted, as it was a fact he could do nothing about. 

Then, he was gone, like a mist he dissolved and left. Cole stretched out a hand, tried to grab something, anything, but there was nothing for him to hold on to. 

"Cole?" A strange voice called from somewhere. 

Trish put her smooth fingers on Cole's chin and turned his head around, so they could look each other in the eyes. Time lost its meaning and purpose. This was it, right here, this was what Cole wanted. A timeless moment where all he had was Trish. As much as he wanted it to be real, and tell the world to burn, he couldn't. 

"Trish..." Cole whimpered, the dam holding back his tears and sorrows groaning and cracking under an ever increasing pressure. 

Trish just gently shushed him, soothingly and calmly. 

"Trish... you're dead...!" Cole managed to squeeze out, his face beet red and tears rippling down. 

"I know Cole, I know." Trish replied, as if it didn't matter, she didn't care and telling Cole neither should he. 

It was simply the way things were and from now, always will be. 

"Cole, what's the matter?" Again that strange voice calling from wherever. 

Trish gave Cole a kiss on the mouth and then pulled herself way. With trembling knees, Cole managed to get on his feet and staggered after Trish. Calmly and naturally, Trish got dressed as if getting ready for work. It was the last thing Cole wanted, for Trish to leave again. The doorbell rung and Trish answered it. In the hallway outside, stood Kessler, waiting with a bouquet of Pink Carnation. Cole wanted to tear the house down to keep Kessler and Trish apart, but instead his trembling knees failed him. 

"Don't try to find me, please don't you dare, just live in my memory, you'll always be there." Trish said to Cole, standing in the hallway with Kessler behind her, holding the door open. 

Crying, but with a brave smile on her lips, Trish closed the door with a hollow thud. Then came the scream, the scream that Trish cried as she fell to her death. Instead of hearing the crushing sound of flesh and bone colliding with the sidewalk, Cole shot out of bed, wide awake and soaking in sweat. Kuo, who was sitting on the side of his bed in her pajamas, was startled to say the least. On second ticked away, Cole's eyes red from tears, looking into Kuo's ice blue eyes, for something, anything. Meeting Kuo's troubled, sincere and honest gaze, the dam burst and Cole wrapped his arms around Kuo, holding her as tight as he could, in fear that she too would vanish from his life. 

"I have lost them! I've lost them Kuo! Oh God, I've lost them!" Cole cried, over and over again, bulking under the pressure and letting her see and hear his true, honest and fragile self.


	17. Empty Memories

For a change, Cole was running late for breakfast. Last nights nightmare had him trashing around like a Duracell bunny. With most people, that's not much of an issue. Yeah, you fall out of bed, you might knock over the lamp on your bedroom table or kick down the alarm clock, but that's about it. Cole on the other hand had thrown around his Conduit powers while trashing around, which turned his room into a small sized war zone. It was sporadic and completely random, so the guards woke up Kuo and let her deal with it. He had insisted to clean up his own mess, Kuo noticed that whatever the dream was about, it had given Cole food for thought. The last few people cleared out of the cafeteria, leaving Kuo alone with her morning coffee. 

"Just how long are they going to scold him?" Kuo wondered, tapping her fingers on the table impatiently. 

Another good ten minutes came and went, before Cole finally came in to the cafeteria. He went straight to the chefs in the kitchen counter, hoping they'd left something for him. A little discussion later, Cole got a tray with some breakfast leftovers on it. Looking around in the empty cafeteria, he noticed Kuo still sitting there and after a little hesitation, walked over and took a seat next to her. After the standard, if a bit awkward, good morning, how do you do, slept well routine, they fell silent, save Cole's chewing and drinking. 

"So, what was last night all about?" Kuo finally decided to ask. 

Cole, still chewing, raised a finger and was just waiting to swallow down. 

"A nightmare, a pretty damn nasty nightmare." He replied before turning his attention back to his breakfast. 

That much was pretty obvious, but what was it about since it was so terrible? Cole seemed to get the idea that it was what Kuo wanted to know, not painfully obvious facts. After he was done eating, Cole told her about his dream and why it had upset him so much. 

"Okay. So, you're okay now right?" Kuo asked as if just to get a final confirmation. 

Cole nodded. 

"Sorry if I scared you, but I guess even I have my limits." Cole mused. 

If anyone could understand, it would be Kuo. She'd been close to her own breaking point plenty of times and if it weren't for Cole, she'd be way passed it by now. Excusing herself, Kuo reminded Cole that they needed to prepare for the new Conduit that would be arriving late this evening. Alone with a glass of orange juice, Cole mulled things over. Looking at his reflection in the juice, Cole figured it was time. Time to move on and not be dragged down or held back by empty memories of things he couldn't do anything about, despite his powers. 

Cole reminded himself that one of the last things Trish said to him, was that she was very proud of him, that he was using his powers to help others whenever he could. As far as Kessler went, well as Zeke pointed out, the Beast was dead and the world was still standing, sort of. Millions were dead, but Cole could not have saved them. He tried that in Empire City and failed, despite his best efforts. Humanity as a whole was standing and would overcome the obstacles that laid ahead. Would there be hard times in the years to come? You bet, but Cole figured it was another stormy chapter in human history that they just had to ride out as best they could. 

Only difference this time was that Cole found himself playing a key role in the events leading up to the current mess. On top of that, everything pointed to the direction that he'd play a key role in the cleaning up as well. Nodding to himself, Cole was content and pleased that he finally managed to wrap things up, bag it, tag it and put it out of his mind. Now what about Kuo? Finishing up his juice, Cole was divided on the matter. She was, strictly speaking, everything Cole could ask for; smart, beautiful, caring, great personality and she had Conduit powers as well. So like, what was he waiting for? 

Heading back to his room, Cole struggled with that last question. Wiggling, turning and twisting it around in his head as a stubborn Rubik's cube that refused to make sense. If he opened to Kuo, would that be cheating on Trish? No, Trish was dead and Cole was getting to terms with that. Besides, he was certain that Trish would've wanted him to move on at some point anyway. Committing himself would bring Kessler's ghost back? Not really, Kessler was all about the Beast, its arrival and its much needed defeat. What to do after the defeat was left blank. Though Cole suspected it would go something along the lines of: find the happiness that I briefly tasted, but lost. 

Then what the heck was it? Taking a seat on his bed, Cole scratched his head in frustration. Well, there was one thing, now that Cole thought things over really, really carefully. Kuo mentioned that Dr. Wolfe was like a father figure to her, not her significantly older boyfriend. Was Cole worried that Kuo's affection for him was nothing more than some sort of fatherly figure thing, love, whatever? Looking at himself in the mirror, Cole rejected that notion. 

"I'm not that old." He sighed to himself. 

The age gap wasn't sufficient for that kind of, uhm, relationship. Was it looks? Is Kuo too good looking for me, making me subconsciously thinking she's out of my league? That idea was so stupid it made Cole laugh. No, Cole had chased after better looking girls than Kuo back in the day. One possibility was that Cole was afraid that if he took that step, it could ruin their current relationship. That did make some sense, it was at least the best theory yet, but even so. There was something about it, a little thing nagging, not making it feel right. Close, but no cigar as they say, or have people stop using that expression? No matter, Cole shrugged. This was getting him nowhere. Cole figured if he could take on Conduits in various shapes and sizes by the horns, he should man up and do the same with this. Get the cards on the table and be done with it. Looking around at the base for Kuo, he met her in the hallway, coming out from the ladies room. 

"Hey, Kuo do you have a minute? I need to ask you something." He asked her, and Kuo replied with a brief nod. 

"Just... ah... how... I mean, what am I, to you?" Cole couldn't believe that he was tripping over his own words. What was he, 13 years old all of the sudden? 

"Eh? You're a good friend and a very dependable partner." Kuo replied, taken a little aback by the seemingly strange question. 

Cole made a face as if to ask her: that's it? Kuo seem to think her reply over more carefully, as if she'd missed something. Then, as if someone turned on the lights, Kuo remembered something she'd overlook. 

"Remember back in New Marais, when I told you that Dr. Wolfe was like a father figure of sorts to me? You're not that, don't worry. You're more like... a reliable older brother." Kuo said with a smile, patting Cole on the shoulder before going about her business. 

WHAT? Those smiles, kisses, hugs and what not was because of THAT? Cole felt like a real jackass, for reading too much into it. 

"Can someone please dig me a hole I can hide myself in?" Cole mumbled to himself. 

On the bright side, Zeke wasn't around to rub it in. Cole figured that Zeke would find out soon enough, and then Cole'd never hear the end of it, ever. At least that was out of the way and Cole should be content with it. Things, especially these kinds of things, change over time, but for now Cole knew what the current status was and he could focus on other things. Like breaking free from Moya's leach. It was already starting to itch like crazy and soon it would be too hard to ignore. Perhaps they'll get their chance with one of the Conduits that would come in, assuming that the military don't kill them all off. Speaking of which, the base grew suddenly much more livelier and Cole realized that the new Conduit would be arriving in a few minutes. 

A CH-47 Chinook landed outside and unloaded more troops, some crates and the new Conduit. Cole didn't get a chance to talk to the person, as he or she was ushered away inside. Most likely to pay respect to Moya no doubt, Cole thought to himself. Kuo walked up to him, browsing through a file. 

"Our first Conduit arrived it seemed. He can run close to super sonic speeds and prior to becoming a Conduit he was head instructor in karate." Kuo said as she read up the content of the file. 

Charming, Cole thought. Seemed like a ground based version of Sonya, but his karate abilities might prove useful for Moya's... plans. Along with a detailed file on the new Conduit, Cole and Kuo were given access to progress and status reports for operation DreamFall, the name the brass had given to collect Conduits. A surprising high number of Conduits were not particular powerful and deemed unfit for any service. They attributed this to the environment in which they were created. A theory purposed by DARPA was that the Conduits inheritable knew or came to realize that the city they lived in was in ruins because they've gained their powers. Very few was able to cope with this fact and as a result, they suffered a number of mental illnesses and were not stable. 

The few that were able to come to terms with this fact, divided into two categories. First category was the one that dug down and resisted capture at any cost, including, but not limited to extreme use of force, hostage situations, human shields, blackmail, establishing their own guerrilla and fighting to their death. The second category were the ones that gave up after little, if any resistance at all. This was attributed to a number of factors, including, but not limited to terrible living conditions inside the ruined city, weak powers, not very useful powers in terms of combat, unwillingness to fight, reluctant to fight against a powerful enemy as the US military and being sold out by the surviving population in trade for aid and supplies. 

While the report did state that they were happy that many Conduits choose to give up, it also expressed disappointment in that the good stuff, as Cole assumed they meant, but didn't say, put up such a fight. Yes, they got the weaker ones for practically free, but they wanted the big, mean, walking war machines. The few of the powerful ones that they did get, were either so badly hurt or so deranged that they would not be worth the effort to send Cole and Kuo's way. Instead they were shipped straight to DARPA for detailed... examination. 

"Even if they can't use the real deal, they could crack the code and start mass-producing wanna-be Conduits as Bertrand did with me and Vermaak 88." Kuo whispered to Cole. 

Yeah, that was always the risk. Bertrand had access to Dr. Wolfe and for a time Kessler. Even with limited funds and perhaps not the ideal tools for the job, Dr. Wolfe's knowledge, insight and understanding of the Conduit condition made up for it. With DARPA having all the latest toys, the brightest minds and ridiculously deep pockets, it would be only a matter of time before they cracked that code. Cole and Kuo couldn't sit around and fool around. With or without Zeke's help, they needed to get out of here and stop this runaway train before it derailed completely. 

"We don't have much time, do we?" Cole said seriously, handing the file back to Kuo. 

The new Conduit was kept under lock and key for starters, as they were struggling with coming up with decent security measures to prevent a potential escape. Cole and Kuo was kept out of the equation, as Moya was still very skeptical about their loyalty. No, they had to rely on conventional military methods this time around. The duo didn't was time with cards or other idle activities. They started looking at their so-called home in new ways. Any crack, scratch or dent in its defenses were noted in hopes that it would prove useful for their escape. A lingering issue did remain in the back of their heads however. 

Escaping was all well and good, but neither of them was very keen on getting spending a life on the run. They had to somehow turn the tables around, giving them cards that when put on the table, Moya could not wiggle herself out of. Killing Moya, however tempting, would not do much good in the long run. Another power hungry person from some corner of the government would crawl from out under his rock and take Moya's seat. That much Kuo could practically guarantee.


	18. I Don't Feel Like Dancing

Cole and Kuo was brought to Moya's office where they were told to wait with evaluating the Conduit that newly arrived. They didn't object to this, it was after all in their favor since they could keep on dedicating time and effort in escaping, while digging up and securing any evidence they thought would be useful to them. 

"So you'll just keep him in solitary confinement until further notice?" Kuo asked. 

"Yes." Moya replied right away. 

Break his mind, break his spirit and he'll do anything for you? Nice plan, Cole thought to himself. 

"I guess they want to see if there's any connection between his powers and his physical condition." Kuo mused as they headed back to their rooms. 

Cole agreed with her theory. The Conduit condition was poorly understood, so they were all fumbling in the darkness. Kessler had the decency to keep human experiments to a bare minimum, if he did it at all. It was not until after Kessler's defeat that Bertrand took over the show, giving Dr. Wolfe access to human test subjects to speed up the research progress. Guess DARPA and the government in general wasn't too shy about human testing. It was hard to accept, but Cole could use this, assuming he could get out of here first. Another month came and went without much incident. Cole and Kuo kept themselves busy learning the ins and outs of the base, guard shifts, cameras and alarms, in addition to collecting whatever evidence they could. Getting better and better at utilizing her powers, Kuo was able to freeze two sheets of paper together, making it appear as one. If questioned by the guards, the just saw a stiff, blank paper. Kuo could shrug this off as a side effect of her hands constantly emitting freezing powers. 

With Cole's cellphone they photo copied the papers before putting them back in place. Even if they were inside a massive bunker for the most part, Kuo figured out how to zip around corners and through almost closed doors. Cole provided some sort of distraction, either by making camera pictures fuzzy or acting lost to get the attention of the guards. While in New Marais they had usually gone all out with their powers, but in here they had to save such tactics to the last minute. Instead they had to rely on far more precision and finesse. At the end of the month something strange happened. Cole and Kuo was eating their dinner just like always, when they were told to go to see Moya right away. Those chicken wings would have to wait. Well back in Moya's office, Moya was grinning from ear to ear. It was a disturbing sight. 

"I've-just-gotten-the-news-from-admiral-Davidson." She told them. 

Apparently the admiral had hit gold, a whole baseball team worth of Conduits had peacefully surrendered. Several of them were what Moya would consider useful. 

"Good news I take it. When do they arrive?" Cole asked, trying to keep his act straight. 

"The-day-after-tomorrow." Moya replied and added that they would be very busy from now on. 

That night, Cole and Kuo talked things over. Should they make a run for it now or wait a little while longer. 

"If some of those guys are useful, we can get them on our side. The more allies we have, the better chance we have." Cole argued, but Kuo wasn't to happy about using these Conduits as pawns on a chess board. 

That wouldn't make them any better than Moya. Even so, Kuo did understand that time was running out. They had no news from DARPA making any progress, nor how many Conduits that had locked up in their labs, if that was the proper term. They were both taken aback that a whole baseball team would have the Conduit gene. What were the odds for that? The fact that there were so many of them and that they were used to work together as a team most likely helped them keep it together. But why would they then just give up, if they had a chance to fight or at the very least run for it? It didn't add up and it had Cole worried. The last thing they needed now was another problem. Hopefully they'd get a lucky break with this, Cole just hoped that they didn't screw it up. There were no silver medals for finishing second in this race. 

Right on schedule the new Conduits arrived and Cole along with Kuo were put to work right away, checking them in and introducing them to their new home. When they were all settled in, Kuo pulled Cole aside and wanted to talk to him in private. 

"Cole, the team captain asked me to pass on a message to you." She told him. 

This puzzled Cole, he didn't know anyone from where these guys came from and he found it unlikely that they'd heard of his adventures in New Marais. 

"The message was that Jedediah lives." Kuo said. 

That sly fox, finally decided to make your first move, Cole thought happily to himself. Cole's hope was quickly diminished, when he learned that the message Kuo was given was all that the baseball captain had to offer. He did however admit that Zeke had indeed come to town and given them a heads up about the military going to strike, before suggesting a plan. The plan was simply to allow themselves to be captured, make sure to bring the personal belongings that he'd prepared for them and tell Cole that Jedediah lives. Cole asked Kuo for help, going over all the personal belongings that the baseball team brought with them. 

Somewhere in this pile, there were clues left behind by Zeke. Cole just had to dig them out and crack whatever code Zeke had used on them. Kuo did have some experience with cracking codes from her time in the NSA when she was hunting terrorists rather than the First Sons. Some of the guards asked what they were doing and Kuo was quick to answer that they suspected that blast shards had been smuggled in, then bombarding the guards with a rather lengthy scientific definition of what blast shards were. 

"Agent Kuo, you're a real treasure, you know that?" Cole said, after the guards left. 

"I'm well aware of that Mr MacGrath, but keep telling me any way." Kuo giggled. 

It was a healthy load of clues Zeke had scattered about, but Cole managed to find all of them. There were subtle hints of things that happened in Empire City, New Marais, inside jokes about Cole's old job, Trish's bra size (how did Zeke find that out?), favorite pizza brand and home made self destructive batteries. After collecting all the clues, cracking the code and getting them sorted out in the proper order a clear image started to form. The long and short of it was that admiral Davidson had dropped Zeke off at New Marais, where he wasted no time getting things on a roll. Zeke contacted Laroche and brought him up to speed. 

With all of New Marais very grateful to Cole's efforts and things slowly getting back to normal thanks to a steady stream of supplies, it wasn't hard to get volunteers. They set out to cities where there would be Conduits, but the military hadn't hit just yet. Along the way they met up with some Conduits that were on the run. Zeke along with Laroche managed to persuade a lot of them to join up. Their chief objective was to bust Cole and Kuo out of whatever bunker they were locked up in. For if it ever was a guy and a girl that would work their shoes off to make things better for Conduits, it was Cole MacGrath and Lucy Kuo. 

Their lucky break was the baseball team that was making the best they could to keep their city from falling completely apart. Zeke was careful on telling them any details, as he knew that Moya would fry them during interrogation. Instead he split up his message, one part for each team member. Calling in every favor, third cousin, questionable pimp, old flames, ex-girlfriends and getting people to know what Cole along with Kuo had done so far, for Conduits and normals alike, Zeke had got quite the show running. The stage was set, all they needed now was a sign. For all the information gathering Zeke could muster, the one nut he couldn't crack was where Cole and Kuo were being kept. 

After being stunned and impressed by Zeke's tireless efforts to get them out and set things straight, Cole and Kuo could do nothing but laugh and cheer. Good ol' Zeke, he'd come through. That little son of a bitch had come through. Wiping their tears, Kuo were a little worried of just how they should go about getting out a message. That was a good point, but although Cole had no clear plan right here and now, he'd work something out. Learning about Zeke's own adventure, Cole could not help but feeling inspired. Divide and conquer? Not even in your wildest dreams, Moya. 

Speaking of the devil, in admits of all these good news, Moya put Cole and Kuo to hard work to map out who could do what, how much and how well amongst the baseball team. While they really, really wanted to just bust out, Cole and Kuo embraced the task, seeing it as a chance to see if there were any abilities that would help them getting a message outside to Zeke. They worked long days to see what powers were at their disposal. Moya did however play with her cards very close to her chest. The moment one member would demonstrate something that would aid them or being compatible with either Cole or Kuo's powers, said person would be relocated to DARPA. 

Running in circles, every chance or faint hope snuffed out by Moya's iron clad rules and days sliding into weeks, Kuo was starting to loose hope and Cole getting increasingly frustrated. They were so close that they could taste it, but had to hold back to get things right. In the end, Cole decided to take the bull by the horns and had a heart to heart chat with Moya. 

"Let one of us meet with this super runner you brought in." He suggested to Moya. 

"Oh?-And-why-is-that?" Moya asked, mildly curious. 

Cole argued that by now both he and Kuo had proven their loyalties to her, and that Moya should return some of that loyalty. Despite having chances, neither Cole or Kuo had done anything to escape themselves, withheld information or aided another Conduit to escape. Moya was not happy to give up even a single one of her cards, despite that she was holding all the good ones. In the end she gave in, figuring that if she kept Cole on a constantly tight leach, he'd rebel and without Cole, Kuo would loose a lot of her potential. 

"However,-if-you-or-your-girlfriend-try-something,-I'll-have-both-of-you-installed-with-mind-implants." Moya warned, or rather threatened Cole. 

"Keep your little toys for yourself, Moya. We won't be needing them." Cole replied before leaving Moya's office. 

Now that Cole had given Moya a sense of control, security and trust, he could raise the stakes. Feeling that the unknown Conduit was the key to their escape, Cole hoped that he'd be able to turn him to their side. Going down to the lowest level of the base, Kuo was only allowed to talk through a small crack on a massive metal door. 

"Hello, how are you doing? Feel like going outside for a stroll?" She asked casually. 

But the Conduit replied dryly: "I don't feel like dancing to your flute." 

Shit, this might take time. Kuo wasn't sure why, perhaps because of past experience with Cole, but Moya did not trust Cole with talking to the super runner. Another attempt to divide and conquer, but Moya failed to understand that by now Cole and Kuo were like different sides of the same coin. Moya had already lost. Over the next few days, Kuo met with the super runner during every meal. Although she couldn't hand the meal over to the Conduit directly, she did add some small personal touches to it, such as ice cubes in the juice or a small ice cream desert based on shaved ice and strawberry jam. It was a humble start, but eventually Kuo managed to get the Conduit to talk. They started slow with simple things, like the weather outside, how they got their powers and things they had done with them since they got them. Kuo often came to tell the Conduit about Cole, how much she looked up to him and admired him for what he'd done both for her and for others. 

She couldn't tell for sure, but it seemed like it made an impression on the Conduit. That Cole would do such things, dedicate his powers, time and efforts for something greater than himself. Eventually the Conduit was allowed outside, under Kuo's supervision. Strapped with many small lead weights in a special west, the Conduit staggered around, finally seeing daylight after months of solitary confinement. At this point, Kuo was confident that he'd help them out in any way he could, not because he was told to, but because he wanted to out of his own free will. 

Still struggling with how to get a message out to Zeke, Cole got an idea when he saw the weather forecast while visiting the cafeteria for a quick snack. Seemed like there would be a thunderstorm coming their way at the end of the week.


	19. Who's Got My Back?

It was early morning when Cole decided break his idea to Kuo. Over breakfast he asked her to hand over the memory card from his phone. The idea was basically that they'd cause a distraction, allowing for the Conduit to make a run for it. Once outside, he'd get in touch with Zeke and they'll come for Cole and Kuo's rescue. 

"Are you serious? This is crazy Cole, even for your standards." Kuo hissed angrily. 

She listed up a lot of faults at Cole's so called plan. The FBI, NSA, police, hell, everyone with a badge and a gun would be looking for any Conduit that leaves the base area without Moya's blessing. Even if he somehow managed to get to Zeke, then what? For all his resourcefulness, there were limits to what magic rabbit Zeke could pull out of the hat. Kuo stressed the point that they were under lock and key inside a military base. You'd need a small army or bigger to just kick in the doors on this place. Not to mention the consequences of such an action, you'd be thrown in jail to say the least. Anyone else would be shot on sight, no questions asked, no funeral held. After she was done, Cole listed up counter arguments, starting with pointing out that he agreed that the plan sucked, but beggars can not be choosers. 

Time was running out, for each passing day Moya would get more and more cards on her hands. They had no idea what was going on inside the many DARPA labs where Conduits were taken. As Kuo pointed out, it was a military base that made up their prison, so they could not get out on their own. With outside help however, it was possible. Once outside they had to play their cards fast and in the proper order in order to nail Moya to the nearest wall with her own bones. If they failed at this, they'd either be dead, back to where they started or with a mind chip inside their heads. Neither alternative was particular appealing to Cole. 

Despite a heated debate over breakfast, Kuo eventually relented and agreed to at least check with the Conduit if he was willing to help them out. During her session with Terry, the fast running Conduit, Kuo carefully and tactfully presented the idea to him. Much to her surprise and concern, Terry was very eager to help out, promising that he'd run like never before. Reporting this back to Cole, Kuo expressed concerns that Terry might be a double agent for Moya. 

"Possible." Cole admitted, but he was beyond the point of doubt and hesitation. 

From here on, it would be do or die as far as he was concerned. 

"You're playing a very dangerous game Cole, the stakes are very high." Kuo warned with a cold glare. 

The next day came and things went to Hell and back shortly after lunch. Kuo was having another training session on the far end of the base, when Terry made a run for it as if he had the Devil on his heels. Shocked and stunned in disbelief, Kuo was not allowed to blink before she heard the alarm sound all over base. Cole pulled off a lightning show and send several cars flying in different directions. Wasting no time, Kuo rushed over and put up a fight against Cole. It felt so wrong to hurt him, but Cole didn't seem to feel that way. It was more like Cole had problems holding back and Kuo had to put a serious effort not to get hurt. 

He was furious, throwing ever stronger attacks at Kuo, countering her efforts to dodge and block his attacks with startling precision. If she tried to get some distance, Cole was after her in a second, using his lightning tether. Kuo herself was hard pressed when it came to landing a hit on Cole that actually made any noteworthy impact. Whenever she tried to attack, Cole either rolled aside, took cover or put up his frost shield. 

"WHY?" Kuo demanded as she narrowly flew away from one of Cole's Cluster Grenades. 

"Things change Lucy, this is where you and I go our separate ways." Cole replied, wiping his mouth with the back of his right hand. 

The heated fight, the screaming guards, the blaring alarms made Kuo's head feel like it was about to explode. In the center of it all was Cole. They had not seen eye to eye on how to make their escape, and because of that they had ended like this? Why? Why did Cole decide to leave her behind? How could he possible have any hope of getting away alone? Even with flawless teamwork and a truckload of luck they'd be hard pressed to make it out of this mess. Now all of the sudden Cole had decided to go solo? 

"After all we've done? After what we've been through, it all boils down to this?" Kuo almost cried, her world was cracking up and crumbling before her very eyes. 

"Spare me your speeches, Lucy." Cole snorted with an obvious discuss. Shooting out from a cloud of dust and smoke, Cole closed in on Kuo and knocked the winds out of her with a well placed punch in her gut. Kneeling and vomiting between coughs, Kuo looked up at Cole with disbelief, disappointment and most of all, hate. Despite getting the beating of a lifetime, Kuo was trembling with anger, or maybe that was just the adrenaline. 

"COLE!" She cried with a sad, angry voice and put all of her into bringing Cole to his knees. 

As the saying goes, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. For the time being, Kuo had no problems living up to such expectations. Screaming, howling and crying like a wild animal, Kuo threw everything she had, no longer listening to rhyme or reason. Come Hell or high water, this was the day that Cole MacGrath would meet his match. For starters, Cole was able to keep up, but as Kuo's attacks became less rational and unorthodox, even he found himself struggling. Grabbing Cole by the throat, Kuo managed to slam both of them throw the roof of a hangar. 

"Hey! I didn't know you could fly and pick people up at the same time." Cole protested. 

The guards starting getting organized and lined up around the duo, eying them down through their the barrels of their guns. 

"NO! Don't! He'll kill you." Kuo warned them, waving her left arm as to make a wall that they should not cross. 

Cole smiled and shot a lightning tether around Kuo's neck before he pulled her close with a yank. Kuo countered with a rock hard knee straight into Cole's family jewels. 

"Okay... that was uncalled for." Cole whimpered as he was brought to his knees. 

Just as the guards moved in for the arrest, Cole sent them flying using Graviton Blast and made a run for it. Kuo followed him and had he not stopped by a diesel generator to refuel, Kuo was convinced he'd actually make a clean escape. They kept on exchanging blows, Cole keeping Kuo on her toes by sending half a dozen jeeps hurling through the air. Amidst the confusion, Kuo lost track of who was doing what, where and how. It wasn't until they found themselves inside the hangar where Kuo had given Cole his birthday present that she became aware of her surroundings. God how it hurt, to exchange such hateful blows with the man she'd grown to trust and rely on the most in the whole world. 

It stabbed, stung, burned and hurt for every hit Kuo managed to land. Yield, yield, yield damn you! The words rang over and over in her mind. Whenever Cole was hit, he rested for a little second and resumed his attacks. The two got themselves into a dead lock. Cole with his Amp, Kuo with a steel pipe wrapped in ice. 

"Stop holding back Lucy. Only a honest killing intent from you can stop me." Cole grunted. 

It was terrible, but given the circumstances Kuo saw that as the only way to save Cole from himself. Managing to knock the Amp out of Cole's hands, Kuo slammed her ice covered steel pipe as hard as she could at Cole's head. With Cole staggering towards his Amp, holding his bleeding head, Kuo flew over to the other side and turned on the sprinklers. Noticing the cold water, Cole stopped in his tracks and turned to face Kuo. Waiting a few seconds, Kuo let the water gather on the floor before she froze it solid, preventing Cole from moving. Soaked, hurt and for all sense and purposes beaten, Cole just stood there, smiling and laughing a little to himself. Kuo didn't find this amusing at all and was thankful that the sprinkler water hid her tears to some extent. 

"Do it." Cole said simply. With a loud scream, Kuo hit Cole and with her strike, Cole froze solid. 

The guards came and brought both of them in custody. Moya was of course disappointed, in both of them. Cole for making a futile, if not entertaining, attempt at escaping and Kuo for letting Terry get away. After lecturing them about how their lives were in the palm of her hand and that they were neither in Empire City nor New Marais any more, Moya had them both thrown into solitary confinement. There they'd stay for a small 24 hours, when the latest mind chips would arrive from DARPA. Moya would not hear any objections and had the two Conduits sent away. As they were taken down to their cells, Kuo asked Cole if this was all a part of his plan. 

As they rode the elevator down, Cole admitted that his initial plan had failed. It was a rash and foolish thing to use Terry as a distraction. He'd gambled that Kuo would chase after Terry, allowing Cole a small window of opportunity where he could make his escape. 

"So what now Cole?" Kuo asked, not quite sure why she'd waste another minute or breath on this bastard of a traitor. 

"Now we move to plan B." Cole sighed, looking at the ceiling inside the elevator. 

One of the guards asked what plan B was, but Cole admitted that he was still working on that so there wasn't much to tell. Kuo was devastated. After she'd cursed and screamed her throat sore, she curled together in a corner and sobbed uncomfortably for hours on end. Cole had failed. That was the long and short of it. The show was over, goodbye free will, hello to a life in chains. To make matters worse, Kuo's cell was boiling hot, a security measure to prevent her from doing anything with her powers. The air was warm and dry as sand. After pinning her hopes, her everything on Cole ever since she and Dr. Wolfe first heard about him from John, Cole had finally failed her. It was a meager comfort that Cole hadn't failed when they had to deal with John in his Beast form, but it sure as hell sucked big time that she had to pull the shortest straw after everything she'd sacrificed so far. 

Deep down Kuo knew that Cole had a point and that unless they did something, anything, they might as well roll over and be content with their current position for the rest of their lives. She was not comfortable with taking such rushed and daring action, suspecting that Cole had at some point gotten sick and tired of her cautious nature. As a result, Kuo spent hours before falling asleep being bothered by doubt and lack of confidence. How Cole could put everything that they had been through aside, so easily? Did their friendship boil down to nothing? At least nothing that would hold when it really, really counted? It didn't add up. 

Running over the fragmented and blurry memories of their fight, Kuo was convinced that had she at some point held back, Cole would have killed her. So when he asked her to do it, to kill him why couldn't she? Despite it all, even if Cole had turned his back on her, he was all that Kuo had. At first he was just means to an end, an end to beat the Beast. Reliable, nontraditional, but always working with the greater good in mind. Later when Kuo was captured and used for Bertrand's sick experiments, Kuo had found her mind drifting to Cole. Knowing that if even a fraction of what John had told her and Dr. Wolfe, Cole would come for her. She guessed that little hope helped her endure it. 

No longer a human, but changed into a Conduit, Cole was still there for her. Reliable, if not a little clumsy. Despite getting their powers under different circumstances and Kuo lacked the pressure coming from playing a central role in Kessler's prophecies, Cole understood what she was going through. While Kessler had been ruthless and inhumanly strict in his shaping of Cole, Cole on the other hand had... simply been there for her, allowing her to find her own shape. 

Shrinking together on her bed, Kuo let out a weak whimper. "Who's got my back?" 

Sitting in a separate cell, Cole had pressed his back as close to one of the walls as possible, trying to drain some electrical power from a wire deep inside the concrete wall. Kuo sure went all out, Cole was surprised and honestly doubted that she actually had it in her. He felt terrible for what he'd done to her, hoping that at some point she'd come around and understand why events played out as they had. 

"Hey, can I have a drink? I'd like a Bloody Mary." Cole asked through his cell door.


	20. Bloody Mary

Cole had after a long night managed to recover from the bulk of his injuries he gotten from his fight with Kuo the day before. Despite his requests for a Red Hammer drink, the guards had ignored him. Cole had not given up though and kept making the same request whenever a new guard shift would come. 

"You are one of the new guys?" The guard on duty asked as his shift reviler came. 

"Yeah, got sent here in a hurry. Heard something about a big accident." The new guard replied. 

They exchanged a few words about guard protocols and what not before the original guard took his leave. Cole slowly counted to ten after he heard that the first guard had left and he was alone with his new guard. 

"So, how about a Red Hammer for a poor prisoner?" Cole asked, talking straight to the door. 

Silence. Shit, not this one either Cole thought to himself, getting worried that his craziest plan to date would not work. 

"Red Hammer? Don't you mean Bloody Mary?" The guard asked back. 

Cole felt like he just had won the biggest jackpot in the lottery when he heard that. The guard peeked through the small window at the top of the door. He asked Cole how he felt, Cole admitted he'd been better, but he was fit enough to get out of this mess once and for all. The guard got Cole up to date with their plan, which was daring to say the least. Zeke, Laroche and Bloody Mary waited outside the base perimeter along with other volunteers from the resistance Laroche had gathered. In an effort to find Cole and Kuo's location, Zeke had taken contact with the Conduit known as Bloody Mary. Using her powers, she'd make thralls out of military personnel in other to find out where Moya had hid Cole and Kuo. While these efforts had proved fruitless, they were able to get one of these thralls into the base thanks to Cole's fight with Kuo and the information that Terry managed to bring out to Zeke. 

Now all that remained was to bust out of confinement and hope that Kuo would come along for the ride. Cole had left her in the dark, in order to sell the illusion to Moya since he was worried she'd might see through a rigged fight. 

"So what do we do now?" The guard asked, since it was Cole that had the full plan in his head, everything was kept on a need to know basis. 

Paranoid perhaps and not very nice towards friends that were used to entrust you with their lives, but seeing that Cole had only one shot at this, this was how he decided to play it. He would just have to spend the rest of his life rebuilding whatever trust he'd crushed. Cole gave the guards the rest of the plan. The thunderstorm was right around the corner and he'd use it to knock out the electricity on the base, all of it, including back-up generators. Then they would have to get Kuo to freeze the door to her cell so the metal would become brittle and thus breakable. All this had to happen very fast for at this point there would be no more second chances and Cole would have played all his cards. As they were going over the last little details of the plan, a red misty smoke came pouring through the air vent inside Cole's cell. Turning around, Cole saw the red smoke rise and reveal a pale, stunningly beautiful red-hair wearing dark red ball gown with what resembled a black choker around her neck. 

"Hello Mary, I was almost worried that you'd not make it." Cole greeted her. 

"Oh Cole, you silly little boy. Of course I would never dream of missing such an event." Mary laughed, her smile revealing her fanged teeth. 

Cole asked her to head over to Kuo's cell and tell her about their plan. When Mary asked what to do if Kuo refused to take part in it, Cole made a suggestion that impressed Mary. 

"Oh aren't you the sweetest boy in all the land? Let's not hope it comes to that, darling." Mary said, before sliding out of the room the same way she came. 

Kuo was surprised to say the least when she was woken up by Mary, but Mary had little patience for filling Kuo in on every detail. 

"Cole planned it all along my dear. This is the REAL escape plan. So, are you in or are you out?" Mary said, finished explaining the plan to Kuo. 

"He wants me to trust him, after that? Forget it!" Kuo snorted, folding her arms across her chest and turning her back to Mary. 

Mary tilted her head to the side with a smile. She found Cole and Kuo's relationship cute and very amusing. She could see what Cole liked so much about Kuo and it would be a crying shame if they didn't kiss and make up later on. 

"There is an alternative." Mary said, taking a seat on Kuo's bed. 

Faintly interested, Kuo cast her a small glance. 

"If you can't bring yourself to trust Cole, make your own escape and leave him here to rot." Mary said with a giggle. 

Tempting as it was, Kuo felt that it wouldn't make her any better than Cole, assuming that the Cole that she'd fought the day before was the real Cole and not just some front as Mary had suggested. Mary on the other hand egged her along, saying with Cole out of the way, she'd be the strongest Conduit out there. Kuo would be able to shape the roles of Conduits in modern society as she saw fit. Kuo shook her head, no she would do what the Cole she'd grown to respect and admire would do; leave no man behind. She'd give him one chance to redeem himself in her eyes. That much she owed him, but there would be no second chance. Not now, not ever. Making this promise to herself, Kuo told Mary that she was in and she'd get to work as soon as the power died. 

"Oh I'm so happy for you my dear. Cole is quite the catch isn't he?" Mary smiled, before hurrying back to Cole's cell with the news. 

"Alright, I guess it's time to hop out of the pot and into the frying pan." Cole said, cracking his knuckles. 

Despite being a few floors under ground, Cole managed to connect to the thunderstorm and quite literary brought down the lightening. First the lights went out and a few moments after the emergency lights kicked in, even these died out. 

"Okay, so far so good." Cole panted. 

With the electrical heaters dead, Kuo brought the temperature in her cell down rapidly and focused it all on the door. With a few solid kicks it gave in and partially broke to pieces. Guided by the guard that Mary had made her thrall, Kuo found Cole's cell. Looking at each other through the window on the cell door, Cole could see anger, disappointment and doubt in her eyes. Knowing that they didn't have time to dabble, Cole slammed his flat palm on the door. 

"Go! Get out of here! Meet up with the others on the outside!" He shouted angrily at Kuo, in an effort to make her snap out of it. 

Realizing that Cole was sincere about getting left behind so she could make her escape, Kuo started to freeze the cell door. She was making good progress, but was interrupted as the rest of the base came stomping downstairs to secure the prison. Mary realized how desperate the situation was and ordered her thrall to get Kuo to safety. 

Objecting, but unable to find the strength to fight back, Kuo was dragged away. The last she saw of Cole, was him sharing a kiss with Mary. Their escape was hectic and Kuo was not sure what powers this Mary person had, but apparently she managed to hold off the guards long enough for Kuo to get out in the open. Laroche met her outside, helping her into the back of a truck. 

"Cole? Where's Cole?" He demanded of her. 

"We... I had to leave him!" Kuo replied and with that the truck drove off at neck-breaking speed. 

While Mary had helped Kuo make her escape, Cole was obviously also doing his part. Even from far away it was a spectacular sight. Thunder striking again and again at the air base, white flashes and thundering rumbles rang to every corner of the desert. And then, it all fell dead silent as if someone had pulled the plug. Kuo was worried what it meant for Cole, was he dead or just knocked out? The drive carried on at high speed until they arrived at an abandoned mine, which Laroche had turned into their hideout. Inside Kuo met with Zeke for the first time in weeks. Quivering and on the brink of tears, Kuo could do nothing but apologize. 

"I'm sorry Zeke. I left him." Kuo cried, over and over again. 

The next day, mood in the camp was gloomy. 

"Just who is she?" Kuo asked Zeke, hinting towards Mary. 

Looking over his shoulder, Zeke sighed. 

"I guess we should have told you." He said, turning back and fiddling with the camp fire in front of him. 

He told Kuo how Cole got involved with a Conduit while Kuo had been out of it because of her recovery from Bertrand's capture. Since Zeke had been nursing and looking over Kuo, he'd not been out with Cole in the field. At any rate, it all happened during a local festival called Pyre night. While taking a small break from the usual heroics Cole did back in New Marais, he came over some petty criminals that were trying to break into the catacombs beneath St. Ignatius. Somewhat reluctant, Cole gave chase and followed the criminals deeper and deeper into the catacombs. He caught the last of them, but in the fight Cole came to knock over one of the coffins, causing it to break. Trying to fix it, Cole cut himself in the process and some of his blood dripped on the mouth of the cried up corpse, causing it to spring to life. 

"Hold on, like some sort of vampire?" Kuo asked, barely holding back a laugh. 

"Oh yeah, you see Mary's powers are very similar to that of a vampire." Zeke nodded. 

Zeke went on in detail, pointing out similarities between both Cole, Kuo and Mary. Cole relied on electricity, Kuo on water and Mary on blood. Now he was quick to stress that it didn't have to be human blood, but it was the substance that gave her most bang for her buck, sort of speak. Initially Mary went out of her way to have fun, playing a cat and mice game with Cole, if he couldn't catch her, she'd drink someone dry. The two of them kept at it for the better part of the night, eventually Cole managed to get Mary pinned down and talk some sense into her. 

Mary it seemed had been a young lady back in the 18th century. At some point her Conduit powers activated naturally and she believed it to be a curse from the Devil. Trying to seek help, but not getting it, Mary shunned society and embraced the darker nature of her powers in earnest. After fleeing an angry mob in Europe, Mary came to the US like so many others, to start fresh. She found a way to make ends meet without getting caught and she kept at it for a few years. By this time, her various travels had taken her to New Marais. Shortly after arriving there, she started feeling more and more sleepy, finding it harder and harder to get up in the morning. Next thing she knew, she woke up inside the catacombs in St. Ignatius, with a terrified Cole by her side. 

"So what, she went into some sort of hibernation and woke up when Cole spilled some blood on her?" Kuo asked. 

Again, Zeke nodded. Kuo didn't buy it for a second, but Zeke pointed out that as absurd as it sounded, it wasn't really all that much stranger than a person who can create ice out of humid air. Taking his point, Kuo let it slide. Also when she thought it over, Nix could create and control plasma as well as fire. Not to mention that Bertrand could turn into that... massive thing, whatever it was. So yeah, vampire like powers made sense. Mary didn't fit the bill completely as far as the mythical vampire though. She was not limited to be out at night alone, crosses and garlic didn't affect her. More on the contrary, she found comfort in the holy cross and she loved to have extra garlic in her food. The blood she drank was only to fuel her Conduit powers, as Cole drained electrical energy from cars, street lights and what not. Mary still needed to eat and drink like a normal person. A peculiar side effect of being a Conduit, Mary lost her regular vision and was now only able to see in the infrared spectrum. For this reason she preferred to be awake at night and sleep during the day. 

"So what now?" Kuo asked, knowing that the same question was bothering Zeke as well. 

"I don't know. I'm working on it, but... we really pushed ourselves to the limit on that last plan. Don't think we can pull something like that off again." Zeke admitted. 

Kuo told Zeke what Moya had planned for the two of them before locking them away. Zeke said that they had bought Cole a little time, when he fried the whole base with his thunderstorm attack, but it would not last. Whatever they were going to do, they needed to do it fast.


	21. Fear Not Fair Ladies

Zeke had gone out to see if he could dig up some useful information, Laroche was busy keeping their secret hideout just that, secret, so Kuo was left much to herself, to recover and to think. Sitting on a old crate for dynamite, Kuo stared empty into the campfire. What could they do to get Cole out? Realizing how much she'd relied on Cole up until now, Kuo had to come to terms with some long overdue truths about herself. Would she keep on relying on Cole? Could she break free and stand on her own two legs? Thinking back, Kuo noticed that Cole had been aiming for that all along. 

Taking seat across the camp fire, Mary rubbed her hands together as to get them warm. 

"Mind if I share your fire with you?" She asked very politely. 

Kuo managed to somehow grunt out something that sounded like a yes. Tilting her head a little, Kuo looked at Mary for a long time. Her ice blue eyes were met with Mary's deep red and they held it for several minutes. 

"Can you make... more, of-" Kuo started, before getting cut short by Mary. 

"Vampires? I'm afraid not." Mary explained that she could take some of her blood and inject it into a human, allow her to make him or her do her bidding. 

However, there were some limits. Firstly, no one got powers that could rival Mary's. They got stronger and tougher, but that was about it. Secondly, as the human body creates new blood, the blood Mary injected to them would be watered down until it lost all its effect, unless they were given a second injection of course. There were some, very few people that got the power to shape-shift into large humanoid bats and they had some rather exotic powers. Most likely people with the Conduit gene, Kuo thought to herself. At the end of the day, Mary seemed to be a Conduit with powers similar to Sasha, using her own blood instead of tar. 

When Kuo asked Mary what had happened to Terry, she replied in a rather as a matter of fact tone, that Terry had died. It was naturally and painless, as he died from exhaustion after pushing himself above and beyond in order to get Cole's message to Zeke. More dead people to their names, Kuo thought. How many more would there be before either Cole or Kuo had enough. 

"Where did you go? After Cole... woke you up?" Kuo asked, deciding to take a small break trying to think of a way to help Cole. 

Mary was happy to tell Kuo that after Cole had brought her up to date on the world, she left New Marais to see the new world for herself. Sadly it didn't live up to expectations, and Mary returned to New Marais after Cole had left. Hearing people talking about Cole's many efforts to help complete strangers, it made a lasting impression on her and she decided to take contact with Laroche to help him maintain law and order in the city. Some weeks later, Zeke returned and from there Mary learned of Cole's predicament. Thankful for bringing her back from her slumbers, Mary insisted on joining Zeke in whatever efforts he'd make to free Cole. Yes, Cole sure had that effect on people, Conduits in particular, Kuo mused to herself. 

"So, do you have any ideas?" Kuo asked Mary, figuring it was worth a shot. 

Mary was more than willing to help out in whatever way she could, but her knowledge of this new world was painfully limited, so she was unsure just how helpful she'd be in planning. While Kuo did see Mary's point, she was hoping that Mary would be able to think out of the box Kuo found herself trapped in, since Mary was so... different. Oh well, it was worth a shot, Kuo thought. Just then Zeke returned with some more information. Cole had fried that air base pretty good and as an added bonus, the plane that would have delivered the mind chips crashed. The pilots made it out alive, but the plane with its cargo was lost. At least that was something. 

Knowing Moya, she'd double, if not triple her efforts to keep Cole under lock and key. It is also entirely possible that she'd conclude that Cole was more trouble than he was worth, thus disposing him as she'd done with Alden and Sasha. Even without electrical power, it was still a military base. They couldn't just walk in through the front gate, Conduits or no Conduits. 

"You know, if they get that mind chip into his skull, Cole's going to be like Darth Vader. Just he'll be hunting Conduits and not Jedi's." Zeke said, taking a seat by the fire. 

While he was stating the obvious, Kuo knew that he was right. Thinking back to her fight with Cole at the base, Kuo shuddered at the thought where she had to fight him again, going all out. 

"But fear not fair ladies, for I have a plan." Zeke then said with a sly smile. 

Mary and Kuo let the fair ladies comment slide as they first looked at each other, then at Zeke to get him to spill his plan. Zeke pointed out that during their time in New Marais, there was an engineer that helped Cole become overcharged with electricity. It was used to reboot substations on the electrical grid around New Marais. As a little bonus, while overcharged, Cole's powers would fry anyone and anything that got remotely close. The airbase that they kept him was a mess, so a lot of people was going in and out, in order to make repairs and the like. Zeke suggested that they'd use Mary's thrall powers to inform Cole that they'd set him up with an overcharge, so he could make his escape. They could use the same method to use people inside the base to make whatever preparations they needed. If this were to work, they had to, yet again move fast. They had to take advantage of the initial chaos on the base, for once things were starting to take shape, they'd be asking questions of why some people were doing something that didn't fit the time table. 

Kuo was skeptical at using people like puppets and also pointed out that without any electrical lines to grind on, Cole's overcharge would loose its force shortly after standing on the ground. Mary assured Kuo that her thrall effects were harmless and only a temporary effect. Zeke pointed out that the plan was not to get Cole grinding all the way to New Marais, just a quick exit off the base grounds. Knowing that Cole's original plan had failed because of her own hesitation, Kuo gave in and said that they should go with the plan. It was a terrible plan, which Zeke remarked was obvious as it was their official trademark by now. 

Mary used her charms to lure workers from the base into her fangs, draining them of some of their blood, converting it into her own and injecting it back into them. Kuo had helped her getting more dressed with the times, making a point of her curves and chose clothes that enhanced her sensuality. Considering that both Zeke and Laroche had a hard time stop staring and gaping at Mary, Kuo thought of it as a success. With half a dozen workers and a pair of guards on Mary's blood list, they made good efforts in putting their reckless plan into motion. It was on their third night that their preparations were done and all they needed was word from Cole. 

Getting into Cole was difficult to say the least. He'd been drained of all his powers and Moya had lost faith in human guards, instead putting Cole under constant video and audio surveillance. Zeke was not thrown back by this setback and told Mary to approach Cole in her mist form. It was critical that she was not seen by the cameras and that she spoke in a hushed voice so not to be picked up by the microphones. The main point was to let Cole know that they were ready for him. Zeke was confident that his friend would find a window of opportunity, no matter how small, and use it to the fullest. 

Kuo could understand that Zeke had great faith in his friend, but she was still worried that their efforts would be in vain. Mary on the other hand happily followed Zeke's instructions, sliding through the air vents until she was just over Cole's head. From there she passed on Zeke's plan word for word. Giving a sneeze as a reply that he'd gotten the message and would be ready, Mary took her leave. On the other side of the cameras, Moya was ever watchful. Noticing that Cole had shifted his attention to the air vent, she ordered him to be moved to the deepest level on the base. 

Not taking any chances, Moya personally hand picked the guards for the job and was on site to oversee that the move went without a hitch. 

"How-do-you-feel-Cole?" She asked, without any trace of interest or concern. 

"Drained..." Cole managed to squeeze out. 

Weakened, Cole was half dragged through the halls and down the stairs. Looking drizzly around, Cole tried to get his bearings and find out where he was, where he was going and how to get out. He was however not fast enough, as he was soon introduced to his new cell. 

"In-a-few-hours-you'-implant." Moya told him, sounding a little smug about it. 

Seeing Moya sitting right in front of him, the guards on either of his side to hold him and unlock his handcuffs, Cole took a chance. With the last of his strength, Cole wrestled free from his guards and dived forward, placing both hands on Moya's face, pushing her backwards on the floor. 

"You did good Moya, killing off all the electricity on the sub levels by cutting the wires, the candles were a nice touch, but frankly you're just not my kind of girl." Cole grunted. 

Hearing that the guards were getting back on their feet, Cole focused on his hands. 

"But you know, there's another source of electricity that you forgot about. YOU!" And with that, Cole drained Moya and her electrical wheelchair dry of all electricity. 

With his powers partially restored, Cole arch restrained both of his guards and made a run for it. Mary had been following the development passively through the air vents and guided Cole to the exit that was nearest where Zeke and the gang had rigged their overcharge setup. Along the way Cole had to fight of a few wandering patrols, snatching their flashlights to get as much electricity as he could. Well outside, Cole locked on the strongest electrical power source he could find and with soldiers hot on his heels, set off in a shower of crackling sparks. Mary's red misty ball soon joined him by his side. Following an electrical cable that was just a feet over ground and leading into the night, Cole knew his friends would be at the end of the line. 

Pressing on, Cole saw the vague silhouette of a truck and he soon run out of cable. Using his static thrusters to cover the last stretch, Cole made a soft landing on the back of the truck. No sooner had his feet landed, the engine started with a roar and they drove off. Laroche did the driving, with Zeke in the passenger seat. Kuo stood by his side and Mary was following close behind, covering up their car tracks as she sped along low to the ground. Once they hit solid asphalt, Mary also took a place on the truck. 

"Are you okay?" Kuo asked, sounding worried. 

Cole nodded and soon started laughing. They had made it, by the hair of their teeth, they had made it. Not quite according to the original plan, but no matter. They had made it! The group settled down in the abandoned mine where Cole was allowed some time to recover. Plenty of food and drink were offered, as Cole had not been properly fed during his captivity, an effort to keep him constantly weak. 

"So, what about Moya? She's going to be after us for sure." Zeke said once things started to settle a little bit down. 

"I wouldn't worry too much about that Zeke. Moya's dead." Cole said between mouthfuls of food and drink. 

Zeke, Kuo and Mary stopped up and looked at Cole with big blinking eyes as if asking for confirmation; did Cole kill Moya? 

"I killed her, I... ah... drained her for neuroelectricity." Cole admitted, though he didn't sound too happy or proud about it. 

After an awkward pause, Kuo asked: "You mean, you... sucked the life out of her?" 

Cole took a pause in his eating, his left cheek bulging with food, and with a serious look in his eyes Cole nodded a few times before resuming his eating. Moya had been a thorn in their side pretty much from day one, so neither Zeke or Cole wouldn't say that she didn't have it coming. Kuo had never heard that Cole could drain electricity from people, she'd always assumed that he needed to take it from the grid or batteries. 

It had felt weird, feeling the life inside Moya fade away, while feeling his own strength returning. Very different from a streetlight or a battery. Sure, batteries felt empty after they were drained for their power, but Moya... she'd just felt dead, for the lack of a better word. In that process Cole felt that he saw something, a sneak peek into what was waiting on the other side perhaps? Whatever it was, it was so vague and diffuse that Cole could not make heads or tails of it now. It was there though, a lingering and troubling feeling that was hard to define or put into words.


End file.
